


The Passing of Days

by aquariuslover



Series: Expectations! [12]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Infinite (Band), Star Trek, Super Junior
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-14 21:20:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14777439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquariuslover/pseuds/aquariuslover
Summary: New love takes birth, timeless love grows stronger, and old love is bent to the breaking point.





	1. The Tail

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to tahoeturquoise for the beta!
> 
> If you want more leave me a kudos!

Siwon gently bumped into Sungmin’s shoulder and asked, “Should I be jealous?”  
  
Sungmin, whose eyes had been locked on Kyuhyun, looked up at the tall prince. “No, not at all.”  
  
Siwon peered down at his lover. “I did not think so. You are staring at him…but not with want.”  
  
“No.”  
  
They were on the planet Eternity and were taking a refreshment break between negotiations. For two weeks Commander Cho and Siwon had headed the diplomatic team in an attempt to persuade the council to give them permission to see if the source of the Guardian’s power could be discovered. Commander Yoochun was convinced that the Guardian of Time must draw on a massive power supply to provide it with the ability to send people traveling in time, across space, and to other dimensions. Since the Expectations’ dilithium crystal supply had been completely depleted during their race to save the planet, he was hoping to discover something they could use or adapt to power the ship.  
  
Unfortunately, the people of Eternity saw the Guardian of Time as a spiritual being and strictly guarded access to it. The fact that Jaejoong had mentally manipulated them on his first visit to the planet and that Changmin had beamed directly to the Guardian of Time without asking for their permission did not sit well with the governing council or with the planet’s young princess.  
  
That the Expectations had saved the planet from certain ruin did soften their stance, but it did not completely obliterate it. Captain Jung, who was still devastated from the loss of his son, did not take part in the negotiations leaving them in the hands of Prince Siwon and Commander Cho.  
  
Siwon watched Kyuhyun, who was across the room talking to one of the younger members of the council. Siwon recalled that the member of the council that had all of Kyuhyun’s attention was named Raoul. Raoul was a handsome, dark skinned, masculine young man in his late twenties that was very assertive in the meetings.  
  
Siwon’s eyes narrowed. “Is he—”  
  
“Trying to seduce the council member,” Sungmin finished.  
  
“Is he?”  
  
Sungmin, who knew Kyuhyun’s predatory tactics better than most, nodded his head. “I fear he is.”  
  
“I am assuming Dr. Cho is not aware of this.”  
  
Sungmin shook his head, and let out a sigh. “No, he would not be.”  
  
“Theirs is not an open marriage,” Siwon asserted, remembering the devastation Ryeowook had felt at finding out Sungmin and Kyuhyun had been lovers during the time he was presumed dead.  
  
“No,” Sungmin confirmed. “This will break Ryeowook’s heart.”  
  
Siwon looked down at his lover and whispered, “Will you not tell the good doctor?”  
  
Sungmin shook his head. “ _I’m_  not telling him. I have been in the middle of Kyuhyun and Ryeowook too many times as it is.”  
  
Siwon frowned. “That is of course a wise decision on your part, but I might find it difficult not to insert myself into the situation. Dr. Cho saved all our lives while we were stranded on the planet. I consider him a dear friend.”  
  
“As do I, and that’s why drop-kicking Kyuhyun is not out of the question.”  
  
***************  
  
  
SooYoung stared down at the lifeless form of her cousin. It had been two weeks since she had returned to the ship; since she had assisted Changmin in his attempt to avoid being lost to time, only to find upon her arrival back to the ship that Sulli had been lost.  
  
The stasis field around Sulli prevented physical contact as it encased her body in a protective shield that maintained her body. In the days that had passed SooYoung had learned that Changmin and Sulli had shared something; no one had been willing to call it the great bond that Joongs shared with their mates…till now. In the moment that Changmin had faded away, Sulli had fallen into a deep sleep.  
  
SooYoung had not forgotten Changmin’s last words to Sulli. He had ordered her not to leave the exam room. SooYoung did not doubt that Changmin knew exactly what would happen to her young cousin.  
  
“Coffee?”  
  
SooYoung looked toward the door to see that the young doctor had entered the room, holding two cups of coffee. “That would be nice.”  
  
WooHyun handed the lieutenant a cup. “How are you?”  
  
“Ready to be out of here.”  
  
He nodded his head. “You and Junsu; he’s becoming extremely irritated.”  
  
“He doesn’t feel like he was violated…isn’t that good thing?”  
  
WooHyun shrugged. “I don’t know. This ship contains knowledge that I can’t even begin to grasp.”  
  
“That’s not true. You will master it perfectly in time, look how accomplished you are with the replicators already,” SooYoung said with a warm smile, holding up her cup of coffee.  
  
The young doctor let out a laugh. “Ah, if only all the technology was as nice as the replicators; all you need to do is ask and it delivers.”  
  
SooYoung turned around and gave her cousin one last look before she led the doctor out of the room. “So when will you be free to roam the ship? I know you have been allowed out for briefings, but when do you get to move into your own quarters?”  
  
“I’m okay with staying in here. It’s a great learning opportunity.”  
  
SooYoung stopped, turned to face him and arched her eyebrows. “Really? I thought you would be eager to get out of here so you could chase after Ensign SungGyu.”  
  
WooHyun blushed.  
  
“Knew it.”  
  
“I am not really bothering to hide it.”  
  
“No, you are not. Not hiding it at all.”  
  
Junsu came around the corner and asked, “What is he not hiding?”  
  
“His crush,” SooYoung replied.  
  
“On Ensign SungGyu? Nope, not at all,” Junsu said with a chuckle, but his laughter quickly faded. “Lieutenant, I heard that you are going to be released today.”  
  
“It’s true.”  
  
“Will you be taking over as Chief Science Officer now?” Junsu asked.  
  
SooYoung nodded her head. “Yes, not exactly a promotion I can celebrate.”  
  
“No,” Junsu agreed, sadness filling his voice as he remembered Changmin.  
  
  
*******************  
  
  
Commander Yoochun looked at Siwon with scorn and declared, “Let me go to the next meeting. I will make them see it our way.”  
  
“That would not be wise,” Commander Cho told him from across the conference table.  
  
“Why? Because I wouldn’t hesitate to remind them that they would all be nothing more than space dust if we hadn’t saved their asses, and maybe we  _won’t_  be so eager to help them out next time if they don’t stop being pricks.”  
  
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned from the head of the conference table.  
  
Yoochun continued, “Actually, we don’t have to ask for their permission. The Guardian is a sentient being and it doesn’t belong to the planet Eternity or its inhabitants.”  
  
“But they believe otherwise, and if I am correct—one of the Federation’s primary directives is to respect the beliefs of other civilizations,” Siwon stated, calmly.  
  
Yoochun folded his arms and insisted, “I have the ship back in perfect working order…except for the fact we have no dilithium!” Yoochun turned to face the captain. “We have got to find another energy source unless you are ready to crawl to Trysor. We need to step up our game plan. We have wasted two weeks dealing with these imbeciles.”  
  
Yunho rested his hands against the table and asked, “I will not threaten the people of Eternity, so what would you suggest?”  
  
“I think your baby momma needs to pay them a visit,” Yoochun answered.  
  
Yunho frowned. “Even if I were okay with using Jaejoong’s telepathic powers to manipulate the people of Eternity, he wouldn’t do it.”  
  
Yoochun groaned. “Captain, with all due respect, have you even tried to talk him into it? I’m pretty sure he would do anything for you.”  
  
“When it comes to the Guardian, Jaejoong has very firm beliefs that he will not waver on. The thought of us trying to harness the Guardian’s power to fuel the ship…he’s not going to help us. He considers it sacrilegious.”  
  
“He would do anything for you,” Commander Yoochun persisted.  
  
“If I were in danger, which I’m not.”  
  
Siwon, who had been listening attentively, offered, “Perhaps there is another way.”  
  
“What?” Commander Cho asked.  
  
“Captain, I do not want to rush you in your time of mourning, but you hold a special position of respect with the people of Eternity; perhaps if you handled the negotiations personally…”  
  
Yunho kept his face completely still. He had not been off the ship since discovering that Changmin had faded away. The loss of Changmin had made him physically ill, and not even Jaejoong’s healing powers could completely rid him of the side effects of the parent-child bond being ripped away.  
  
“He shouldn’t even be at this meeting, much less going on missions,” Yoochun spoke up protectively. His eagerness to harness the Guardian’s power did not override his concern for his oldest friend. “He’s almost green with nausea now.”  
  
“I am fine,” Yunho claimed, turning to face Commander Cho. “I will attend the next set of negotiations.”  
  
Commander Cho nodded his head. “Yes, Sir.”  
  
“You are all dismissed,” Yunho informed the other men as he stayed sitting. Commander Cho and Siwon got up from their chairs and left the room.  
  
Commander Yoochun stayed behind and regretfully told Yunho, “I didn’t mean for you to go…are you sure it’s a good idea?”  
  
“I am fine.”  
  
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”  
  
“I am just sad…I feel like I will never stop being sad, but the physical side affects diminish everyday and they were never severe to begin with. Not like poor Sulli.”  
  
Yoochun reached across the table and squeezed Yunho’s hand. “You know Changmin was my favorite robot, so I give you permission to be sad for as long as you want; forever if you want.”  
  
Yunho blessed Yoochun with the smallest of smiles. “It will be okay.’  
  
“You and your incessant whining,” Jaejoong hissed as he stormed into the conference room, glaring at Commander Yoochun. “Could you have nagged him more?”  
  
“I was not nagging! I was being a supportive friend!” Yoochun declared, letting go of Yunho’s hand.  
  
Jaejoong walked up behind Yunho and started massaging his shoulders. “After you got what you wanted.”  
  
“I wanted to go down to the planet myself,” Yoochun informed the Joong.  
  
“You wanted me to go down there,” Jaejoong said, correcting Yoochun. “That’s what you really wanted.”  
  
“Well, you won’t go, so Yunho is going in your place.”  
  
“Like I would ever let him off this ship without me; he’d probably get kidnapped again!” Jaejoong hissed. “He is never leaving this ship without me again…EVER.”  
  
“Jae…”  
  
“I will manipulate any mind I have to, including his,” Jaejoong continued. “Near death experiences…I am not a fan of them.”  
  
Yunho just shook his head, but couldn’t help relaxing as the bond and Jaejoong’s hands worked wonders on him.  
  
“So you are going down there with them?” Yoochun asked hopefully.  
  
“Yes, and I am going to make sure they don’t change their minds,” Jaejoong told Yoochun with a wicked grin. “The Guardian of Time is not some device you can use to power this ship! It is a timeless being of immense power!”  
  
“It gets its power from somewhere! I don’t want to steal its power…I just want to see if there is a way we can harness a similar power.”  
  
“Too bad it isn’t happening; I will make sure of it.”  
  
Yunho groaned. “Jae…”  
  
“No, I am not changing my mind. The ignorant fools of Eternity should be honored that I even bothered to manipulate their simple minds in the first place.”  
  
Yunho’s mood darkened and he snapped, “Can you please stop? You are not going to manipulate anybody’s mind. We are also not going to threaten them. The people of Eternity will come to their own decision.”  
  
“Yunho, don’t be so grumpy,” Jaejoong told his mate as the captain got up from his seat. “I was just messing with your sleazy engineer.”  
  
Yunho, who was walking toward the door, told them both, “You both make me tired. It’s amazing how similar you two are. I am surprised you aren’t the closest of friends.”  
  
Jaejoong watched as Yunho exited the conference room and turned to glare at Yoochun.  
  
Yoochun just leaned back in his chair and told the fussy Joong. “What? It’s totally your fault. We were having a nice moment then you barged in all bitchy.”  
  
Jaejoong tossed his head. “I am pregnant! I can be as bitchy as I want to be.”  
  
  
*******************************  
  
  
WooHyun stared at the hundreds of scans that Dr. Cho had prepared for him as he sat at the conference table in Dr. Cho’s office. “I have to memorize all of this?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Today?”  
  
Ryeowook patted his new assistance on the shoulder. “No, you have ‘til tomorrow.”  
  
WooHyun swallowed nervously. “Okay…”  
  
“I don’t know why you don’t just implant an intelligence chip in him,” Heechul, who was leaning against the doorway, commented. “They have been used before.”  
  
“They are only to be used in case of memory loss,” Ryeowook reminded Heechul. “WooHyun hasn’t lost his memories.”  
  
“Yes, but he is a primitive human…” Heechul paused to look down at WooHyun, giving him a weak smile. “No offence.”  
  
WooHyun slumped in his chair. “None taken.”  
  
“His brain isn’t primitive. His IQ exceeds Starfleet minimum requirements. He will be able to assimilate the knowledge, it’s just the amount and details he finds intimidating,” Ryeowook explained.  
  
Heechul walked away from the doorway and over to WooHyun and ruffled his hair. “He’s so cute, though. He should be out making new friends instead of being stuck in here.”  
  
WooHyun grinned. Heechul was one of the strangest and most eccentric people that he had ever encountered—and that was saying a lot, but he liked him. “No, it’s okay. I want to be the assistant. I want to help you guys out.”  
  
“Such a darling,” Heechul said, beaming down at WooHyun.  
  
Ryeowook silently sighed in relief. He was extremely grateful that the ever unpredictable Heechul had taken a shine to the young doctor. He needed the young doctor’s help, and the fact that Heechul was not going to make sickbay into some kind of battleground was a great relief.  
  
“I require you,” the voice of Jaejoong called out as he walked into the room.  
  
Ryeowook looked up and asked, “The baby?”  
  
“Nooo,” Jaejoong replied with a snort. “As if I would need your help with the baby.”  
  
Heechul brought his arms up and hugged his own chest. “Oh, you are already showing. Little Baby Changmin is growing like a weed.”  
  
An alarmed Jaejoong immediately looked down at his flat stomach. “I am not!”  
  
Heechul pranced across the room and patted Jaejoong’s tummy, much to the Joong’s displeasure. “Whatever you say little momma.”  
  
“I am not a momma! I am the birth-parent!”  
  
“First time parents are always so nervous, but you will embrace motherhood in time; I have every confidence in you,” Heechul replied with a wink as he excited the room.  
  
Jaejoong clenched his fists. “I loathe him.”  
  
“No, you don’t,” Ryeowook replied, shaking his head.  
  
“Yes, I do.”  
  
“No, you don’t,” Ryeowook repeated, and then asked, “What did you need?”  
  
“I want to complain about our mates.”  
  
“Jaejoong, you have to give Yunho time. He needs time.”  
  
“Yes, I know…but Changmin didn’t die. Changmin hasn’t even been born yet.”  
  
“Yunho shared a lifetime of memories with Changmin…a life spent together. Plus, he shared a parent bond with Changmin; he is feeling the after effects.”  
  
“He is completely fine physically…he’s just moping. I can’t snap him out of it. We are not even having sex.”  
  
“Patience, my friend.”  
  
“We all know you are the king of patience. Two years now—” Jaejoong said with a grimace and a shudder. “I can not even imagine.”  
  
Ryeowook glowered. “Can we not talk about that?”  
  
“Okay, let’s talk about how I have to go down to Eternity. You know how I hate those religious fools and they are going to be all over me.”  
  
“I thought they were pissed at you from your last visit?”  
  
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed. “The Guardian of Time is not subject to their beliefs nor are the Joong…we the only beings the Guardians acknowledge.”  
  
“Not true.”  
  
“Yunho doesn’t count. He’s bonded to me…he’s like an honorary Joong now.”  
  
“I am sure he feels special.”  
  
“He does,” Jaejoong told Ryeowook as he stared down at WooHyun. “Are you trying to overwhelm this new human?”  
  
“No,” Ryeowook insisted. “He’s completely capable.”  
  
“If he’s too hard on you let me know; I still owe you for saving my Yunho’s life,” Jaejoong told WooHyun. Jaejoong had had very little interaction with the young doctor other than reading his mind and determining he was no threat to the ship.  
  
“I am not being too hard on him,” Ryeowook stated as he took Jaejoong by the arm. “Let’s go, Doctor Nam needs to study.”  
  
Jaejoong let Ryeowook lead him from the room and into an exam room. “I am not letting you scan me.”  
  
“Humor me.”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Don’t you want to see baby Changmin?”  
  
Jaejoong gave Ryeowook a deadpan look. “He’s a mass of cells at this point.”  
  
Ryeowook laughed and told the Joong, “That is something he would have said.”  
  
Jaejoong brightened. “It is, isn’t it?”  
  
“Go ahead, you know you are curious,” Ryeowook told his friend as he patted the exam bed.  
  
“Okay,” Jaejoong declared, relenting quickly as he jumped up on the exam bed. “But you better not try any of your prehistoric mumbo jumbo.”  
  
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Ryeowook drily informed the Joong as he studied the readings. “This says you are eight weeks pregnant, but it also says you are a regular human…a regular human that just happens to have functioning sexual organs of both genders.”  
  
“I assure you, I have only been pregnant for the last two weeks.”  
  
“How long does a Joong pregnancy last?”  
  
“It just depends. The shortest are around three months, but a Joong can be pregnant for two years.”  
  
An alarmed Ryeowook asked, “What determines the gestation period?”  
  
Jaejoong shrugged. “Nobody knows for certain; there are some theories—and I am not sharing them with you.”  
  
“I am—”  
  
“No,” Jaejoong said, interrupting. “Most Joong pregnancies last five months to a year.”  
  
“It’s very interesting,” Ryeowook admitted, looking at the readings. “Going by these readings Changmin could be born as early as two months from now.”  
  
“No, he won’t.”  
  
“But going by this rate—”  
  
“Joong development always starts off fast and then slows during the last weeks of pregnancy.”  
  
“He’s only half Joong, remember.”  
  
Jaejoong shook his head as if he was dealing with a child. “I assure you, nothing would make me happier than having only a ten week long pregnancy, but it isn’t going to happen.”  
  
“We will just have to wait and see,” Ryeowook stated without conceding completely.  
  
Jaejoong looked up at the screen and complained, “Technology bores me; I want a visual.”  
  
“Okay, okay,” Ryeowook replied with a laugh and almost immediately the baby growing inside of Jaejoong appeared. “There he is.”  
  
“Oh, that is amazing—what is that?” Jaejoong asked, pointing to the scan of the baby.  
  
“That’s the tail.”  
  
“The what!” A horrified Jaejoong exclaimed, jumping off the exam bed. “A tail! Joongs don’t have tails! If he has a tail he inherited it from Yunho!”  
  
Ryeowook covered his mouth, trying is best to control his laughter. “All embryos have them.”  
  
“You all had tails? What do you do with them? Is there some primitive ritual where you cut them off?”  
  
“No, they just go away by the ninth week…well, in most cases.”  
  
Jaejoong plundered Ryeowook’s mind telepathically to reassure himself. “Some babies are born with tails.”  
  
“That is extremely rare.”  
  
Jaejoong shook his head and telepathically contacted his mate.  _“Did Changmin have a tail?”_  
  
 _“What? No. Why?”_  
  
 _“That’s a relief! I can’t imagine having a child with a tail. If any other Joong found out I would be humiliated. You know I come from the most ancient and royal house on Joong.”  
  
“Why did you ask me if Changmin had a tail?”_  
  
 _“Ryeowook coerced me into getting on an exam bed and we were looking at the baby…the baby that looks like a small tadpole.”  
  
“You are looking at the baby without me?”  
  
“Umm…yes.”  
  
“You suck.”_  
  
Jaejoong grimaced, feeling Yunho’s disappointment from several floors away. _“Ummm…you know I am always happy to suck you.”_  
  
 _“Jaejoong.”  
  
“Darling, come see the tadpole and then we will go down and deal with the primitives.”  
  
“He isn’t a tadpole.”_  
  
********************  
  
“So how does it feel to be out of sickbay?” Ensign SungGyu asked as he sat down at the table in the mess hall opposite of Lieutenant SooYoung and her brother Ensign Minho.  
  
SooYoung leaned back in her chair, grinning. “It feels nice.”  
  
“Big shoes to fill though.”  
  
“The biggest,” SooYoung agreed.  
  
Minho beamed at his older sister and said confidently, “She can do it.”  
  
“No,” SooYoung interjected. “I won’t ever be as brilliant as Changmin…very few are, but I can hold my own.”  
  
“I have no doubt,” Ensign SungGyu agreed.  
  
“So, have you been to sickbay lately?” SooYoung asked, innocently.  
  
“No,” SungGyu informed her. “Commander Yoochun has me very busy in engineering running test after test.”  
  
“You are in Engineering again?” Minho asked.  
  
SungGyu shrugged. “Until the energy crisis is solved, I suppose.”  
  
“And longer if Commander Yoochun has his way,” Minho added. It was well known aboard the ship that the Chief Engineer had every intention of keeping Ensign SungGyu assigned to Engineering.  
  
“Is Engineering not your specialty?” SooYoung, who had been off the ship for over a year and had not ever gotten acquainted with any of the cadets, asked.  
  
“No,” SungGyu answered. “I was taking command courses at the Academy.”  
  
SooYoung’s eyes lit up. “How many times did you have to test for the command courses?”  
  
“I didn’t; my entrance exams determined it.”  
  
“Wow, that is very rare,” SooYoung told him, highly impressed. “If I am correct, Yunho is the only other person on this ship that was placed in command courses based on the entrance exams.”  
  
“That’s what I hear.”  
  
Minho asked, “Did you always know you wanted to command?”  
  
SungGyu shook his head. “Nope; I was debating on selling shoes or joining Star Fleet.”  
  
“Selling shoes!” The Choi siblings both exclaimed at the same time.  
  
“It’s our family business. We have been making and selling shoes since the 1800’s,” SungGyu explained. “I sometimes regret my decision to join Star Fleet. The shoe business is far less stressful and you get to sleep a lot more. I never get enough sleep these days.”  
  
Minho laughed and SooYoung just stared at the young ensign, who had been given one of Star Fleets greatest honors only to complain about the lack of sleep. “If you are having difficulty sleeping, perhaps you should visit sickbay. I am sure WooHyun would love to help you out.”  
  
“Oh, I have no difficulty falling asleep. I just like to sleep eight hours a day, and that just doesn’t happen in Star Fleet.”  
  
“No, that doesn’t happen,” Minho agreed, unable to keep from chuckling.  
  
“You should still visit sickbay…I am sure WooHyun would enjoy a visit from you,” SooYoung persisted.  
  
“You think so?”  
  
“I am certain of it.”  
  
****************  
  
“Where is it?” Jaejoong grumbled as he searched through the cooling device in the kitchen for the dish he had prepared earlier.  
  
A very happy Yunho, who was sitting at the dining table inside their quarters, informed his mate, “We should look at him everyday, so we can keep track of how fast he is growing.”  
  
Jaejoong held up both of his hands at a loss. “I know I put it in here.”  
  
“Soon he will be the size of an insignia.”  
  
“Did you eat it?”  
  
“Then he will be the size of a phaser.’  
  
“Yunho!”  
  
Yunho, who had been lost in his own world, turned to face Jaejoong. “What?”  
  
“Did you eat it?”  
  
“Eat what?”  
  
“Do you ever listen to me when I speak aloud to you?” Jaejoong demanded as he combed through Yunho’s mind for the answer to his question.  
  
Yunho, who immediately felt the fuzzy feeling of Jaejoong’s telepathic prying, protested, “Hey, now!”  
  
“You didn’t eat it,” Jaejoong declared. “What happened to it?”  
  
“Happened to what?”  
  
“Dinner! I made something absolutely perfect for us to eat and I can’t find it. It’s not here,” Jaejoong explained.  
  
“Oh…”  
  
“Computer,” Jaejoong stated, calling for the ship’s computer. “Who has been in these quarters?”  
  
The computer promptly replied. “Please specify a time period. There have been 594 sentient beings in these quarters since the ship was first constructed.”  
  
“In the last—”  
  
“I am not that hungry…let’s have sex instead,” Yunho suggested, interrupting Jaejoong. Yunho’s mood had brightened considerable since seeing his unborn child earlier in the day. Plus, he had a pretty good idea who had enough guts to steal food out of their quarters and he wasn’t interested in the fall out of Jaejoong finding out. “I did successfully persuade the people of Eternity into letting us examine the Guardian of Time, so I think I deserve a little reward.”  
  
Thoughts of food vanished from Jaejoong’s mind as he eagerly walked over to his lover. “You did.”  
  
“Plus, you promised you’d suck,” Yunho reminded Jaejoong as the other man approached him.  
  
Jaejoong reached out his hand for Yunho as the other man got up from his chair. “I did, but I am going to require some effort on your part, also.”  
  
Yunho allowed Jaejoong to lead him into the bedroom. “I am at your command.”  
  
“As you should be,” Jaejoong stated confidently, licking his lips in anticipation. “We are doing it man on man style tonight. I am tired of vaginal sex.”  
  
********************  
  
Kyuhyun was lying on the couch on his and Ryeowook’s quarters staring at the ceiling, but he quickly shut his eyes when he heard the door to the quarters swoosh open. He felt Ryeowook walk over to him. He kept his eyes shut pretending to be asleep.  
  
He fought the urge to tense up when he felt a gentle hand reach out and touch his arm.  
  
“Kyuhyun, you should go to bed,” the soft voice of his husband could be heard saying.  
  
Kyuhyun rolled over on his side, away from Ryeowook. “No, sleep here,” he muttered as if his mind was clouded with sleep.  
  
“Okay,” Ryeowook agreed, relenting. Kyuhyun sighed in relief as he listened to his spouse head into their bedroom.  
  
*****************  
  
  
“It’s delicious,” WooHyun declared as he scooped up more food from the bowl that was sitting on the bedside table in Junsu’s sickbay room.  
  
Junsu was sitting in his sickbay bed with his arms folded tightly across his chest. “That’s not the point.”  
  
WooHyun muttered with a mouthful of food, “This is so much better than replicator food.”  
  
“I told him I didn’t want it.”  
  
“I want it,” WooHyun told the fuming ensign as he stuffed another spoonful in his mouth. “After hearing you and SungGyu describe Commander Yoochun on the planet I envisioned him to be some sort of…insane, perverted tyrant, but instead he seems really nice.”  
  
“Believe me, he isn’t.”  
  
“What if he is trying to change?”  
  
“I will admit he probably doesn’t like what happened to me.”  
  
“See, he cares for you.”  
  
“No, you misunderstood me.”  
  
“He seems genuinely concerned about your wellbeing.”  
  
“He cares in his own strange, possessive, deviant way, I suppose.”  
  
“He just offered you a gift.”  
  
“I didn’t want it.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“He might get the wrong idea.”  
  
Sauce dripped down the side of WooHyun’s mouth as he took another bite of the delicious food.  
  
“I made it very clear that I am not interested in him,” Junsu clarified. “Any ideas he has regarding the two of us are clearly his own. I like women. I don’t want anything from him.”  
  
“Don’t want what?” SungGyu asked as he walked into the room. WooHyun immediately put down his spoon and started wiping his face, but not before SungGyu cast his gaze in the young doctor’s direction. “Hungry?”  
  
WooHyun turned red.  
  
“Commander Yoochun brought it for me, and I wish he hadn’t,” Ensign Junsu explained.  
  
SungGyu stared at the food with more interest now. “I didn’t know Commander Yoochun could cook.”  
  
“Oh, he can…and like an angel,” WooHyun quickly volunteered. “It’s delicious.”  
  
Ensign Junsu rolled his eyes. “He obviously stole it. He’s too busy sexually harassing people and obsessing over his engines to cook.”  
  
“He isn’t that bad,” WooHyun protested, refusing to believe that Commander Yoochun was all bad. “I think he really likes you.”  
  
“Only because he wants to—just never-mind why,” Junsu spat out.  
  
SungGyu walked towards WooHyun and the bowl of food. “He fancies Junsu’s gluteus maximus.”  
  
Junsu winced. “That’s putting it way too nicely.”  
  
WooHyun’s eyes were glued to SungGyu as the other man approached him. “I am sure he likes all of Junsu.”  
  
“WooHyun, you are just…you are just too romantic minded,” Junsu grumbled.  
  
The young doctor opened his mouth to protest then closed it…because it was the truth. He had always been a romantic.  
  
SungGyu smiled at the doctor as he reached up and wiped food from WooHyun’s face. “You missed some.”  
  
“Thanks,” WooHyun whispered weakly, as he turned redder.  
  
Junsu watched the other ensign and the smitten doctor. “SungGyu, I heard you got promoted.”  
  
SungGyu shrugged, turning back to face Junsu. “I did.”  
  
“I still outrank you,” Junsu teased.  
  
“Oh…oh…that’s true,” WooHyun stuttered, still flustered by having his face touched by the object of his affection. “Although…although…I…I would never have thought that on the planet.”  
  
SungGyu laughed at WooHyun’s choice of words. “Thanks.”  
  
WooHyun whirled around to face the ensign that he had inadvertently insulted. “No offense.”  
  
“None taken; I don’t want to captain starships, I want to fly them,” Junsu explained, feeling real excitement for the other ensign. “So did you move up a whole level?”  
  
“A whole level,” SungGyu confirmed.  
  
WooHyun held out the bowl of food. “You should celebrate by eating some of this. It’s really good.”  
  
SungGyu took hold of the spoon that was lying inside the bowl and immediately tasted the food. “Oh, that is delicious.”  
  
The doctor smiled at Junsu. “See, I told you.”  
  
“I can’t eat something he gave me…even if he stole it.”  
  
Ensign Gyu walked over with the bowl in his arms and asked the other ensign, “Why are you in bed?”  
  
“He’s pouting,” the young doctor explained on Junsu’s behalf.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Why? It’s because I am being held hostage! There is no reason for Dr. Cho to hold me here. I am perfectly fine! I wanted to have sex with her!”  
  
SungGyu slowly chewed his food and swallowed it down, while thinking over the other ensign’s words. “You only wanted to have sex with her after Victoria manipulated your mind. You were truly outraged at first at her suggestion, but then the Joong intervened changing all that.”  
  
“I didn’t want to because…because the captain was dying…not because I didn’t desire Taeyeon!” Junsu insisted adamantly. “If the captain had been well…I would have been all for it.”  
  
“But the captain was not well, and you were not all for it,” SungGyu gently reaffirmed for the other ensign. “It’s wonderful that you don’t feel victimized by what happened to you but still, it was not done with your consent.”  
  
Junsu sighed. “I just…I just don’t feel like I was raped. I know I didn’t…I know I didn’t consent…but it wasn’t bad.”  
  
WooHyun sat down on the bed and asked, “So Junsu, you were attracted to the woman before the Joong manipulated you?”  
  
“I was,” Junsu confirmed.  
  
SungGyu grunted. “So? I was attracted to WooHyun also and I didn’t run off to the woods to have sex with him. The point is that you would not have done such a thing of your own free will either. You might have found the experience enjoyable but it was still rape. She compelled you to do something against your wishes. I am sure Dr. Cho is just waiting for you to acknowledge this fact.”  
  
WooHyun looked up at SungGyu and repeated, “ _Was_  attracted.”  
  
SungGyu arched his eyebrows and told the young doctor, “I was providing an example.”  
  
Junsu pondered the SungGyu’s words. “I just…it didn’t feel—I suppose you are right though.”  
  
“I usually am,” SungGyu informed the two other men, nonchalantly. “Now, let’s eat.”  
  
“I don’t want any,” Junsu, who appeared to be in deep thought, mumbled underneath his breath.  
  
WooHyun smiled at SungGyu and announced, “More for us.”  
  
*****************  
  
  
Early the next morning Ryeowook walked back to the quarters he shared with his husband. He had gotten an early call to come to sickbay after a crewmember had suffered a fall while changing out an exhaust vent in the torpedo bay. The injury had been quickly dealt with and now Ryeowook was focused on his husband. Kyuhyun had been very distant in the last three weeks, since resuming his duties. And even before then Kyuhyun had been very angry at his husband for not letting him return to work earlier. Kyuhyun’s continued unhappiness with him was leaving Ryeowook feeling very unsettled.  
  
Ryeowook paused and sighed as he reached their door; he wasn’t sure how to reach out to Kyuhyun. He knew his husband was a very complex individual. An individual that required much more therapy, but he also knew all the therapy in the world would not help Kyuhyun—until Kyuhyun was ready to accept help. Kyuhyun was clever and even as a child he had known how to pass psychological tests with flying colors when he was far from well. Sadly, Ryeowook also knew that Kyuhyun’s duties would not suffer from his refusal to seek further help; only their relationship would.  
  
He stared at the door before entering, hoping that Kyuhyun would be more receptive this morning and agree to go eat breakfast with him. Ryeowook found his courage and stepped up to the door, expecting it to automatically open.  
  
The door stayed shut.  
  
Ryeowook frowned and commanded, “Open.”  
  
The door stayed shut.  
  
Ryeowook stared at the door for only a moment before summoning the ship’s main computer and invoking his medical override, “Computer, this is Dr. Cho; open the door to my quarters.”  
  
The door whooshed open.  
  
He cautiously entered his quarters; he immediately heard sounds coming from his bedroom that could only be described as moaning. “Kyuhyun…”  
  
“Fuck! Ryeowook stay out. Give me a second,” Kyuhyun immediately responded in a panicked voice.  
  
Ryeowook stayed in the living area of their quarters, not moving forward. He felt a mixture of relief and concern. Kyuhyun was masturbating, which was a relief because his husband had displayed no interest in sex since the rape and torture he had suffered at the hands of ZhouMi. Masturbating was good; his concern was with the fact that Kyuhyun was obviously embarrassed by it. Which was very concerning since they had been married straight out of the academy and Kyuhyun was not shy.  
  
“Did you think maybe I had the door locked for a reason?” Kyuhyun asked heatedly from inside the bedroom.  
  
“I didn’t really think about it,” Ryeowook confessed as he heard Kyuhyun slam stuff around in the bedroom. “I am sorry. I used my override privileges without thinking it through.”  
  
Kyuhyun grunted from inside the bedroom. “It’s only one of the many disadvantages of being married to the Chief Medical Officer.”  
  
Ryeowook winced and questioned, “One of the many?”  
  
Kyuhyun, who was now fully dressed for a workout, emerged out of the bedroom. “Yes, it seems like there are a lot of disadvantages these days.”  
  
“And what would the others be?”  
  
Kyuhyun closed his eyes and cooled his emotions. “I am being an ass…just forget I said anything.”  
  
“No, I will not just forget it.”  
  
“I am sure there are many disadvantages in being married to the spoiled whoring son of admirals, too.”  
  
“Whoring?”  
  
“I meant...you know how I was when we first met.”  
  
“I do, but you are not like that anymore.”  
  
Kyuhyun opened his eyes and met Ryeowook’s gaze. “You would not have said that before ZhouMi decided to use me as his toy.”  
  
Ryeowook flinched. “I was hurt…and when a person gets hurt they act irrationally. I should not have held such a grudge for so long. I was relenting…I would not have made us wait a year.”  
  
Kyuhyun maintained eye contact with Ryeowook, while still keeping his distance. “You put too much emphasis on fidelity. What I had with Sungmin…it was sexual. It didn’t mean anything to me.”  
  
“It meant sex.”  
  
This time Kyuhyun flinched. “Yes, it was sexual release, but you have always insisted on associating sex with love, which is preposterous.”  
  
“You haven’t always thought this way.”  
  
Kyuhyun looked away from Ryeowook. “No, for a while…I got everything I needed from being with you. Love and sex.”  
  
“And now?”  
  
“I should get to the gym, I have to recertify,” Kyuhyun uneasily replied, ignoring Ryeowook’s question.  
  
Ryeowook’s eyes narrowed and stated, “You weren’t thinking of me.”  
  
Kyuhyun looked back at Ryeowook, swallowed nervously, and shook his head.  
  
“I don’t care,” Ryeowook told Kyuhyun truthfully.  
  
“You don’t?”  
  
“No, you have suffered from immense sexual trauma for the second time in your life and you have refused to continue your therapy. I am not surprised that thoughts of me do not get you aroused.”  
  
Kyuhyun’s eyes lit up. “So you aren’t mad?”  
  
“No,” Ryeowook answered honestly. “You have also suffered the loss of Changmin, a friend that was very dear to you…a friend you sacrificed a great deal for. I understand that your feelings are all over the place right now.”  
  
Kyuhyun’s relief was visible. “I just…this is a huge relief.”  
  
“I don’t care who you fantasize about, as long as it sticks to fantasies.”  
  
The relief vanished and Kyuhyun asked, “And if it doesn’t stick to just fantasies?”  
  
Ryeowook’s heart broke as he easily read his mate. “Then I would relieve you of all the disadvantages that being married to the Chief Medical Officer imposes on you.”  
  
Kyuhyun froze.  
  
“I know why you would be attracted to men that you have no emotional attachment to, but my understanding nature only extends so far.”  
  
“So even though…even though you know why I feel the way I do…you would not reconsider your stance on fidelity?” Kyuhyun asked, unable to hide his dread. “Even though you…you more than anyone else knows what happened to me.”  
  
“I love you, but if you have sex with anybody else…our marriage is over,” Ryeowook stated firmly.  
  
“That’s…that’s so nineteenth century Earth!”  
  
“Monogamy is not an outdated notion! Many races, including billions of humans, respect it! My planet of birth believes firmly in it!” Ryeowook exclaimed. “You knew who I was and what I believed in when you married me.”  
  
“Things have changed since then!” Kyuhyun yelled at his husband. “If you loved me half as much as you say you do…you would understand that my desire to fuck other people has nothing to do with my love for you.”  
  
Ryeowook closed his eyes, controlled his hurt and whispered to his husband, “ _If you loved me half as much as you say you do_ you would get the help you need…and not destroy everything we have built over the years due to some itch you want scratched.”  
  
Kyuhyun stormed across the living area and stopped before exiting the room. “You make it sound so easy. Even now…you are such an innocent. You have never known true lust…lust that makes no sense, but just consumes you and makes you crazy with want.”  
  
Ryeowook took a moment to mull over Kyuhyun’s words and responded, “That’s true. Before I met you I was very inexperienced. And I loved you long before I desired you…and I have only ever truly desired you. You are the only person that I’ve ever been intimate with.”  
  
“I know that…I love that, but I am not  _you_.”  
  
“No, you are not,” Ryeowook said, turning to Kyuhyun. “Have you betrayed me already?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Are you going to?”  
  
Kyuhyun darted his eyes away from Ryeowook. “I don’t know…probably, I will…I don’t want to hurt you…but I don’t know if I will be able to stop myself.”  
  
The anger Ryeowook had been controlling rose up and erupted out of him. “You are responsible for all your actions! You are not the helpless victim in this! If you decide to cheat on me it will be your choice to do so! So hurry and make up your mind! I have a life to live also!”  
  
“What?” Kyuhyun asked, looking back to face his husband. “What do you mean by that?”  
  
“Once you decide to end our marriage, it will be time for me to move on…experience new things.”  
  
“Are you threatening me?”  
  
“No, I am just simply stating that once our divorce is finalized my belief in monogamy will be as dead as our marriage and all the promises we ever made each other.”  
  
Kyuhyun’s breathing increased. “I haven’t cheated, not yet.”  
  
“Well, you be sure to tell me if you decide to throw everything we have away.”  
  
“I will,” Kyuhyun snapped as he quickly turned and rushed out the door.  
  
******************  
  
“Don’t think or feel anything,” Jaejoong ordered, holding up his hands.  
  
Yunho, who was sitting with Jaejoong at the table inside their quarters, looked at his mate, who was making exaggerated facial movements. “The baby?”  
  
Jaejoong shook his head and motioned for his mate to hush.  
  
Yunho took a sip of his coffee and asked, “Who are you eavesdropping on?”  
  
“Yunho, do I have to knock you unconscious? I am trying to read thoughts here!” Jaejoong fumed, irritated at his mate. “The Chos are getting a divorce…they feel terrible. I could feel Ryeowook’s sadness all the way down the hall…and Kyuhyun…Kyuhyun is a mess.”  
  
“You should not be eavesdropping on—a divorce?”  
  
Jaejoong slumped back in his chair. “It’s horrible…the baby must have distracted me because I had no idea it had gotten to this point.”  
  
“Divorce…” Yunho repeated.  
  
“It looks that way. Kyuhyun wants to have sex with this other man…and I can’t even be rightfully appalled for Ryeowook, because Kyuhyun sacrificed himself for Changmin. If it hadn’t been for that sacrifice they would be happy together.”  
  
Yunho knew he should start preaching about how wrong it was to eavesdrop on the private conversations of others, but he felt so bad. “They were both very close to Changmin. I will never forget when Ryeowook started at the academy…he and Changmin were little nerdy friends together. They were so cute.”  
  
“My son was not a nerd.”  
  
“He was.”  
  
“Apparently primitive humans couldn’t appreciate his superior genius.”  
  
Yunho sat his coffee down on the table. “Stop being a snob.”  
  
“Snob? I am not a snob. I am the Royal Prince—”  
  
“Of Joong, blah blah blah,” Yunho interrupted, finishing for Jaejoong. “I am just trying to say that the loss of Changmin probably didn’t help the Cho marriage any. Poor Kyuhyun did so much to spare Changmin…it must feel…I can’t imagine how it feels...now that Changmin has been lost anyway. I am just sad their marriage has ended in divorce.”  
  
“Well, they haven’t declared divorce yet. It’s up to Kyuhyun. If he cheats on Ryeowook then it is divorce.”  
  
Yunho frowned. “Who would he...what crew member would be so…what crew member would have sex with Kyuhyun knowing he is married to Dr. Cho?”  
  
“Would you like a list? Would you like it in alphabetical order?”  
  
“No!”  
  
Jaejoong studied his mate, and then asked, “Marriage? This earth custom holds great importance with you?”  
  
Yunho nodded his head. “It does. When humans from Earth decide to commit to each other and form a family they marry. Not all humans hold marriage in the same high regard; some humans find monogamous relationships tedious.”  
  
“Both Ryeowook and Kyuhyun seem very sad at the possibility of their marriage being dissolved. I hope Kyuhyun will overcome his urge to jump that burly monk on Eternity.”  
  
Yunho grimaced, fighting the urge to ask.  
  
“Raoul,” Jaejoong answered, noticing Yunho’s internal struggle.  
  
Yunho scrunched his face in dislike. “He’s so…so…”  
  
Jaejoong sighed, rolling his eyes. “Manly.”  
  
“Umm…I suppose; definitely not my type.”  
  
“No,” Jaejoong agreed. “We all know your type, but your latent homophobia is being increased with my more feminine Joong form.”  
  
“I do not suffer from latent homophobia.”  
  
Jaejoong just tilted his head and smiled at Yunho.  
  
“I just like beautiful men.”  
  
“And beautiful women…”  
  
“Not anymore, not ever,” Yunho quickly, responded.  
  
“Yes, I know. I am curious to see how you adapt to me switching back to my previous form after the baby is born.”  
  
“Why? You are always so quick to tell me that it is the form I chose.”  
  
“It is,” Jaejoong said, defensively.  
  
“Then there will be no adapting; I would love you in any form.”  
  
“Good answer.”  
  
“It took more then these ravishing good looks to make it this far in Starfleet.”  
  
“Yes, it did,” Jaejoong agreed. “It took a destructive space anomaly and a causality list that consisted of most of your superiors.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
*************  
  
  
“I think Sungmin is finally getting his revenge,” Lieutenant Donghae declared after watching Sungmin toss Kyuhyun on the floor none too gently.  
  
Eunhyuk, who was sitting beside Donghae, nodded his head. “It’s payback time.”  
  
“Ensign DongWoo was supposed to be evaluating Kyuhyun, but then Sungmin stepped up and said he would personally be in charge of Kyuhyun’s evaluation,” Junsu explained with widened eyes. Junsu, who had been freed from sickbay, but who had still not been released to return to duty, had been in the gym when Sungmin had surprised everybody with his announcement.  
  
Eunhyuk turned to Junsu, who was sitting on the other side of him on the bleachers, and asked, “Did Kyuhyun look scared?”  
  
Junsu shook his head. “No, not really, but I bet he was. I mean, imagine you thought you were getting nice, goofy DongWoo as your instructor only to find that you were getting the man you dumped.”  
  
“I would have wet my pants,” Donghae admitted, after seeing Sungmin fling Kyuhyun over his shoulder as if the commander weighed nothing.  
  
Junsu watched as Sungmin easily wiped the floor with Kyuhyun. “I thought they had made their peace though.”  
  
“I guess Prince Tall, Dark, and Handsome hasn’t completely rid Sungmin of all the memories of the men who came before him,” Eunhyuk snapped bitterly.  
  
Donghae cringed, looking away as Sungmin put Kyuhyun’s body in a position that…that looked immensely painful. “But…but…after what happened to Kyuhyun…wouldn’t Sungmin be nicer? Isn’t this a little cruel?”  
  
“Yes,” Junsu answered.  
  
“No,” Eunhyuk answered at the same time as Junsu. “Commander Cho hurt him a lot.”  
  
“So,” Junsu replied. “Sungmin is an adult. We all warned him and he chose not to listen to us.”  
  
“True,” Donghae agreed with Junsu. “He’s still being too rough. I am going to call the captain if he doesn’t tone it down.”  
  
“Oh, brother,” Eunhyuk grunted, disgusted with them. “Commander Cho can order him to stop anytime he wants.”  
  
“Can he even talk at this point?” Junsu asked, looking at the winded commander.  
  
“You act like he is beaten to bloody pulp or something. He isn’t even bruised, I bet,” Eunhyuk protested. “He’s a commander; he will be leading away teams again…he needs to be tough.”  
  
Donghae turned and gave his friend a severe look and bluntly told him, “Sometimes I wonder about you—when it comes to Sungmin.”  
  
“What do you mean by that?” Eunhyuk demanded.  
  
Donghae looked back to the gym floor and focused on Sungmin. “No offence, but you act like you are in love with him half the time.”  
  
“What!” Eunhyuk screamed, standing up. “What did you just say?”  
  
“You heard me,” Donghae replied, looking up as his friend.  
  
“I have often thought the same thing,” Junsu agreed. “He’s a little too interested in Sungmin’s sex life, if you ask me.”  
  
Donghae sighed in relief, realizing he wasn’t the only one that had noticed Eunhyuk’s weird fixation with Sungmin. He looked away from Eunhyuk to focus on Junsu. “I know! Nobody is ever good enough for Sungmin.”  
  
“I hate you both,” Eunhyuk hissed as he stormed down the bleachers, walked onto the gym floor and yelled at Sungmin, “I don’t think this is the place to air your personal grievances. It isn’t very professional.”  
  
Everybody in the gym stopped what they were doing and turned to gawk at Eunhyuk.  
  
Sungmin forgot about Kyuhyun and just stared at his friend. “I’m not doing that.”  
  
“Well, that is what everybody is thinking, so maybe you should let somebody else evaluate Commander Cho’s combat skills.”  
  
Commander Cho was lying on the practice mat gasping for air.  
  
Ensign Kangin, who had been watching with the other men from security, stepped up, agreeing, “You are being a little rough on him.”  
  
Sungmin exhaled a breath and nodded his head. “Ensign DongWoo, allow Commander Cho a small rest and then you resume with his evaluation.”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” Ensign DongWoo quickly responded from beside Kangin.  
  
Eunhyuk turned around to face the bleachers and subtly gave Junsu and Donghae the finger and then stormed out of the gym.  
  
Donghae and Junsu looked at each other with widened, shocked eyes. Donghae asked, “Do you think we might have hit a nerve?”  
  
“I think so.”


	2. Chapter 2

WooHyun stood transfixed as he looked upon the stasis chambers filled with crewmembers. “It’s…tragic.”  
  
“That it is,” Dr. Cho replied as he walked through the room that held the crewmembers that were in stasis. “Most would die instantly if they were removed from the protection of the stasis chambers.”  
  
“Most?”  
  
“There were some crewmembers that could be kept alive if we provided nutrition and an airway, but their minds are so far gone they wouldn’t be able to move or think.”  
  
WooHyun peered closer at the stasis chambers. “I thought all the women died?”  
  
“No, some of them were in sickbay at the time and the emergency sickbay systems kicked in and placed them in stasis. Even though I was able to save Sulli and SooYoung on the planet…if I removed these women from the stasis chambers they would die instantly. The affects of the space anomaly hit the ship the hardest.”  
  
“I suppose the older people in stasis were also in sickbay at the time of the disaster?”  
  
“Yes, everybody who was older than thirty that wasn’t in sickbay died instantly,” Doctor Cho explained. “Most of the people in stasis are those that were nearing thirty. Once Yunho took command of the ship and realized what was happening he immediately started putting the dying in stasis.”  
  
“I just can’t imagine what it was like…to be on the ship back then.”  
  
Dr. Cho let out a huff of air. “It had to be a living nightmare. These people are caught in an existence where they are neither alive nor dead…just gone.”  
  
WooHyun looked sadly at the chambers. “I wonder if they wouldn’t rather be dead.”  
  
“That’s not for us to decide. A cure might still be found someday.”  
  
“I hope it is.”  
  
Dr. Cho placed his hand on WooHyun’s shoulder and led him out of the room. “Now, it is time for you to become acquainted with Commander Leeteuk.”  
  
“Isn’t he more like Heechul?”  
  
“Umm, not exactly; the great mind that Heechul used to possess is able to break though at times and Heechul is completely capable of taking care of himself…whereas Commander Leeteuk is a special case.”  
  
“How so?”  
  
Dr. Cho shrugged and explained, “He was in the shuttle during the disaster so like SooYoung and Sulli he was able to survive. If he had been aboard the ship his age would have meant his instant death. He has to be under constant supervision…I would describe him as a happy toddler—who refuses to wear any kind of clothing.”  
  
WooHyun couldn’t keep from smiling as they walked down the corridor. “So none of his real personality breaks through?”  
  
“Commander Leeteuk was a very capable commander. He outranked Yunho…he was years older, but he could also be very—”  
  
“Doc!” Kangin hollered, meeting up with WooHyun and Ryeowook as they neared the room where security watched over Leeteuk.  
  
“Kangin?” Ryeowook asked, concerned.  
  
“Your hubby just had the shit beat out of him. He is insisting he is fine…but I knew you would want to know.”  
  
Ryeowook’s face went deathly still. “During his recertification?”  
  
Kangin slowed as he reached them. “Yep, Lieutenant Lee started off the evaluation himself and…well, he kicked Kyuhyun’s ass.”  
  
“I thought he was going to be tested by Ensign DongWoo.”  
  
“Sungmin switched it up at the last minute,” Kangin explained.  
  
“Lieutenant Sungmin is completely capable of defeating someone without inflicting serious bodily harm,” Ryeowook explained with a glint in his eye. “I do wish I could have seen it though.”  
  
“You do?” Kangin asked, taken aback.  
  
“I wonder what Kyuhyun did to evoke such a response from Sungmin?” Ryeowook pondered aloud.  
  
“We thought it was just repressed rage from a year ago.”  
  
“No, it wouldn’t be that,” Ryeowook informed him. “Sungmin was over that. Maybe Kyuhyun hit on him or something.”  
  
Both Kangin and WooHyun’s jaws dropped, and the ensign blurted out, “Why would you say that?”  
  
Ryeowook’s clinched his fists. “I don’t want to discuss it, but if you were worried enough to inform me of the beat down I better have him checked out.”  
  
“He’s probably fine,” Kangin replied, his sympathy for the commander diminishing by the second.  
  
Ryeowook shook his head and tapped his insignia. “Commander Cho, you are to report to sickbay now. That is an order.’  
  
“Yes, Sir,” came the immediate reply.  
  
Ryeowook turned to WooHyun. “You better get back to sickbay, your first patient is about to arrive…try not to kill him.”  
  
“Okay.” A startled WooHyun barely managed to get it out of his mouth.  
  
  
****************  
  
“I just want to kick the damn thing!” Yoochun spat out angrily while eyeing the Guardian of Time with growing frustration.  
  
Lieutenant SooYoung, who was standing beside the Chief Engineer, replied calmly, “I doubt that would help, Commander.”  
  
“It would make me feel better, though.”  
  
SooYoung turned to look behind her, and smiled at the members of Eternity’s Council that were standing in the background observing them. “It would probably get us thrown off the planet though.”  
  
Yoochun sighed. “Every test shows that the blasted thing is just a big rock…with blue water inside it…just standing there defying the laws of gravity and physics. Where does the damn energy come from?”  
  
“That is what we have been trying to figure out for the last week.”  
  
“If Jaejoong would come down here and get the thing to talk to him, maybe then we could find out where the energy comes from.”  
  
“Unfortunately, he is most adamant about not doing any such thing,” Lieutenant SooYoung reminded the Chief Engineer.  
  
Commander Yoochun stared at the Guardian. “It won’t respond to us, it has never responded to any of the people of Eternity, and it didn’t respond to Changmin.”  
  
“Changmin never addressed it,” SooYoung reminded the commander. “We do not know if it would have responded to him or not.”  
  
“I am about to be an insensitive lout,” Yoochun warned as he tapped his insignia, “Captain, I need your help.”  
  
“I highly doubt it will respond to me,” came the captain’s voice over the link, knowing instinctively what the commander would want.  
  
“It has in the past.”  
  
“Probably only because Jaejoong was with me.”  
  
“Well, we all know Jaejoong won’t allow you to come down to the planet without him, so maybe his presence will make it talkative.”  
  
“Or it will do the exact opposite.”  
  
“We have to try.”  
  
“Is this really necessary?” the captain asked.  
  
“Yes, it’s necessary. We spent two weeks trying to get to examine it and another week trying to figure out its energy source and as you know…we have squat to show for all our efforts. If we don’t figure out something soon we are going to have to start crawling toward Trysor.”  
  
“One week,” Yunho replied. “I will give you one more week and if you haven’t figured something out by then, we leave for Trysor.”  
  
Yoochun frowned but relented, “Agreed.”  
  
“Good,” Yunho’s voice could suddenly be heard saying from behind Commander Yoochun and Lieutenant SooYoung.  
  
Yoochun spun around and smiled at the captain. “That was fast.”  
  
The captain smiled back at his old friend. “I am actually surprised it took you so long to ask for my assistance.”  
  
“I have been trying to be on my best behavior,” Yoochun explained as he eyed the annoyed looking Joong that was standing beside the captain. “I guess we can’t expect any help from you.”  
  
“No, you can not,” Jaejoong informed the Chief Engineer as he telepathically commanded the Guardian to ignore any of Yunho’s requests.  
  
Yunho shook his head and stepped forward, until he was standing in front of the Guardian. He looked back at Jaejoong. “Do I just start off with a hello?”  
  
Jaejoong folded his arms. “I don’t recall.”  
  
“You won’t even help me a little?” Yunho questioned his mate.  
  
“No,” Jaejoong answered.  
  
Yunho looked back at the Guardian and greeted it, “Hello, I am sorry to bother you. My ship has a little crisis—”  
  
“It is not a crisis,” Jaejoong said, interrupting the captain. “Nobody is in danger. It just means you can’t be speeding around the galaxy at warp speed. Maybe it would be nice for the crew to take a nice three month journey…without almost dying everyday. It would be a nice, healthy break. I am pregnant, so I am all in favor of boring.”  
  
“Jae…”  
  
“What is wrong with boring? Why can’t we just all chill and celebrate the fact that Changmin no longer has a tail?”  
  
“Changmin had a tail?” a confused Yoochun asked.  
  
“No,” Yunho replied, turning around to look at his mate and protesting, “It wasn’t a tail.”  
  
“Yes, it was and now it is gone,” Jaejoong insisted.  
  
The captain turned back around to face the Guardian. “With all due respect I know that you are a telepathic being of immense power, so if you are going to respond could you do it already, please?”  
  
“Yunho, that was kinda rude,” Jaejoong chastised from behind his mate.  
  
The Guardian did not respond.  
  
“I have heard you be a lot ruder—and I wasn’t rude.”  
  
“I can be rude…I am a Joong…a royal Joong at that,” Jaejoong stated hotly.  
  
SooYoung, who had been watching quietly from beside Yoochun, announced, “I doubt the captain is going to have any luck.”  
  
“Why so negative?” Yoochun groaned.  
  
“From the little I know about Guardians they serve only the Joong. With Jaejoong’s continued hostility regarding our investigating the Guardian’s energy supply…it is extremely unlikely the Guardian will go against his wishes,” SooYoung pointed out to them.  
  
“I still don’t like you, but you’re not stupid,” Jaejoong admitted to SooYoung. “I’ll give you that.”  
  
Yoochun frowned and whined to Yunho, “Could you not have left him on the ship?”  
  
“I could have…” Yunho said, pausing. “It would have meant forcing the necklace on him and throwing him in the brig, though.”  
  
“That isn’t even funny, Yunho!” Jaejoong complained.  
  
“I was just joking—”  
  
“Well, you are not funny!”  
  
***************  
  
“Do you even know how the bed works?” Commander Cho asked the very nervous looking WooHyun.  
  
“I am not depending on the bed. I was a doctor long before I arrived on this magnificent ship,” WooHyun told the commander, trying to sound confident.  
  
Commander Cho arched his eyebrows as the young doctor examined him. “I suppose.”  
  
“You seem fine, you will have a few a bruises—bruises I can heal with the tissue rejuvenator,” WooHyun said as he looked around the room for the particular piece of equipment in question.  
  
“Here doctor,” Heechul declared as he pranced into the room with the rejuvenator in his hand.  
  
“Thanks,” WooHyun said, taking the tissue rejuvenator from Heechul.  
  
“No problem,” Heechul told WooHyun with a smile. “I am a nurse that is here and ready to serve you.”  
  
“Thanks…” WooHyun repeated to the eccentric Heechul.  
  
“And I am also here to torment Commander Cho,” Heechul said with a devilish laugh as he slithered up next to the commander. “What did you do now? He is in a truly foul mood today.”  
  
Commander Cho glared at Heechul. “That is none of your business.”  
  
“He has been so worried about you, but now he is letting Doctor Nam practice on you. You must have done something spectacularly awful.”  
  
WooHyun opened his mouth to deny that he was practicing but then closed it when he realized he didn’t even know how to turn on the tissue rejuvenator.  
  
Heechul subtly took the tissue rejuvenator from WooHyun, turned it on and started running it over Kyuhyun’s bruised body. “Sungmin must know what you did, but why would the good doctor confide in him and not me? I’m his best nurse and I’ve never let you screw me.”  
  
“Thank God,” Kyuhyun said with a roll of his eyes.  
  
“I am much too feminine for you. When you are in your destructive whoring state it’s only men that represent—”  
  
“Shut up,” Commander Cho warned.  
  
Heechul’s eyes twinkled with keen intelligence. “Oh, is that it? Did you make the moves on Sungmin? That doesn’t seem right though. Although he is with my darling prince…he’d probably drop him in second for another go at you, so he wouldn’t be spurred to violence by your advances.”  
  
“Be quiet,” Commander Cho ordered.  
  
“No, that was cruel of me…Sungmin wouldn’t hurt Ryeowook again, but you would—wouldn’t you?” Heechul asked, unbothered by the commander who was growing angrier by the second.  
  
“I am…I am going to…I have an appointment I need to get to,” WooHyun uttered as he fled the room.  
  
Heechul turned to watch WooHyun hurry away. “Was it something I said?”  
  
Kyuhyun got off of the exam bed. “Yes, and now I will be leaving, too.”  
  
“Leave, but know this…he won’t forgive you.”  
  
Kyuhyun stopped at the doorway and turned to look at Heechul. “There isn’t anything to forgive.”  
  
“Remember when you once told me that you would never stop loving him?”  
  
“Yes, and it’s the truth.”  
  
“People like Ryeowook…they don’t take hurt well…not at all. You both will be unhappy for a very long time, if you aren’t careful,” Heechul warned.  
  
“I am trying.”  
  
“You need therapy, lots of therapy...there are psychotherapy programs built into the holodeck. Talk to someone even if it is just a holodeck projection.”  
  
“The holodeck is closed.”  
  
Heechul sighed. “You are second in command of this ship, grant yourself special access.”  
  
“I can’t do that.”  
  
“You could do it, or talk to the captain. He would have them opened for you.”  
  
“The ship is in an energy crisis…the holodecks are closed, and they need to stay closed.”  
  
Heechul’s eyes narrowed in on Kyuhyun as he moved closer to the commander. “We can’t force you to seek help, if you don’t want to be helped.”  
  
Kyuhyun took a step back, knowing Heechul was channeling his prior genius. “I don’t…I just need for Ryeowook to be more open minded.”  
  
Heechul snorted and brushed past Kyuhyun as he left room. “Fat chance of that.”  
  
****************  
  
“So do you like them?” Sungmin asked Woohyun as they stood outside the quarters the lieutenant had just showed the young doctor.  
  
WooHyun cast his eyes down the hallway. “Sure…they seem nice, but where…where are Ensign SungGyu’s quarters located?”  
  
“Oh, they aren’t on this level. They are on level eight. Since you are a doctor I thought it best for you to be on the same floor as sickbay.”  
  
“Yeah…that makes sense…it’s just…it’s just that…” WooHyun paused.  
  
“Just what?”  
  
“It’s nothing,” WooHyun said unable to hide his frown. He had been hoping to be rooming closer to SungGyu.  
  
A snorting sound had Lieutenant Sungmin and WooHyun turning around quickly to find Jaejoong watching them closely. “So I see you are giving him my old quarters.”  
  
“Yes, I thought it was important that he be near sickbay,” Sungmin explained.  
  
WooHyun nodded his head. “Yes, it’s for the best.”  
  
Jaejoong, who had already read the young doctor’s mind, added, “But wouldn’t it be nicer if you had somebody to share them with…somebody that could orientate you to the ways of the ship?”  
  
WooHyun laughed nervously. “Dr. Cho is proving to be a wonderful help, and Ensign Junsu has showed me around some.”  
  
“I am sure they are very helpful, but I think you need somebody else, don’t you agree Lieutenant Lee?” Jaejoong asked Sungmin.  
  
Sungmin blinked several times and agreed, “Yes, that would be for the best.”  
  
“It would?” WooHyun asked, confused. He had been assured earlier that there were plenty of quarters for everyone to have their own.  
  
“Yes,” Sungmin continued, “I think we should have both you and Ensign SungGyu move into these quarters. That way he could help you become more familiar with the ship.”  
  
“Really?” WooHyun blurted out, unable to hide his surprise.  
  
“I totally agree,” Jaejoong said, winking at WooHyun. “It’s definitely for the best.”  
  
“I shall go make the arrangements right this minute,” Sungmin told them and then hurried off.  
  
WooHyun gave Jaejoong a dumfounded look. “I thought…I didn’t think…I don’t understand what just happened.”  
  
“We are even now,” Jaejoong informed WooHyun. “My debt to you is paid.”  
  
“What?” WooHyun exclaimed, realizing the Joong had intervened on his behalf, making the lieutenant room him with SungGyu.  
  
Jaejoong pointed to the quarters. “They are much nicer than the one room quarters the ensigns are forced to live in. This way you will at least have two rooms…so when you two fight, and you will fight…one of you can sleep on the sofa.”  
  
“You did this?” WooHyun asked, voicing his concerns aloud.  
  
“Of course I did; although he is a little jealous of all the praise Ensign SungGyu has received for his role on Kanzi…he’d never force him to have a roommate.”  
  
“Force him. I don’t want to force SungGyu into anything.”  
  
“You will just have to warm him up to the idea, but it’s best that you don’t tell anybody of my role in this,” Jaejoong warned.  
  
“I wouldn’t…or I will try not too,” WooHyun quickly told the Joong.  
  
Jaejoong smiled. “Good.”  
  
WooHyun swallowed nervously. “Thanks.”  
  
“Like I said, I owed you for helping Yunho,” Jaejoong explained as he started walking away toward his quarters. “Even if Yunho is pissing me off at the moment, I still owed you a debt.”  
  
“But,” WooHyun said to the departing Joong, “SungGyu helped the captain, too.”  
  
Jaejoong didn’t bother turning around to answer the young doctor; he just told him with a chuckle, “Yes, he did. I suggest you be the best roommate you can be.”  
  
********************  
  
“So on a scale of one to ten…how pissed off are you?” Junsu asked as he sat down across from his friend, who was sitting alone at a table in the mess hall.  
  
“Fifty-seven.”  
  
“Wow.”  
  
“I am really mad,” Eunhyuk confirmed, not looking up from the bowl of soup he was continuously stirring.  
  
Junsu looked around the mess hall to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on them, lowered his head, and whispered, “Do you think it might be true?”  
  
Eunhyuk raised his head up, ready to deny the accusation, but something about the concerned look in Junsu’s eyes made him stop. “I don’t…know…I don’t think so…but I just don’t know.”  
  
Junsu let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “I totally understand.’  
  
“You do?”  
  
Junsu nodded his head.  
  
Eunhyuk whispered, “But just last week you were preaching that you were the most heterosexual of the heterosexual…and glad you got raped by a woman.”  
  
“I didn’t get raped…well, I did, but not by her,” Junsu explained, under his breath. “After talking to SungGyu I realized it was rape, because it wasn’t done with my consent.”  
  
Eunhyuk sneered in dislike. “After talking to SungGyu; what does that little shit know?”  
  
“Don’t be like that.”  
  
“First he got promoted and did you know he got moved to the same floor as the officers? What the hell is with that? Our good captain is showing a tad bit too much favoritism if you ask me. What happened to you being Captain Yunho’s favorite? SungGyu’s a cadet—”  
  
“I mean it; stop,” Junsu ordered. “He deserved the promotion.”  
  
“Bullshit, you deserve it. You were on Kanzi, too. I bet you were running the entire show, and he gets all—”  
  
“I was down there doing everything he told me to do. He was in total command,” Junsu interrupted to tell his friend.  
  
“You were in command! You outranked him.”  
  
“It wasn’t about rank, it was about staying alive. He’s good…I’d follow his orders any day,” Junsu said, with unflinching confidence. “He tricked a Joong.”  
  
“It apparently wasn’t a very powerful Joong.”  
  
“She handled me without any difficulty,” Junsu reminded Eunhyuk. “I wish you weren’t so jealous. It’s not very becoming.”  
  
Eunhyuk dropped the spoon he had been stirring his soup with. “Why do you always have to be so nice?”  
  
“I’m not always nice, but I’m not a bully.”  
  
“Are you calling me a bully?”  
  
“I just said I wasn’t one.”  
  
“I am the nicest person on this ship, I will have you know!” Eunhyuk declared in his defense. “I am just talking to you privately. I am not bullying anyone.”  
  
Junsu shrugged. “So you haven’t complained about him to anybody else? You haven’t spread your insecurities to others, inspiring others to dislike him?”  
  
Eunhyuk paled. “Umm…point taken, so I might be gay and a bully. Just wonderful, I’m a gay bully!”  
  
“I don’t think you are gay.”  
  
“You don’t?”  
  
“No, and I don’t think I am gay either.”  
  
“Really?” Eunhyuk asked, brightening.  
  
“I think…we just are attracted to certain people…and some of those people might be guys.”  
  
Eunhyuk frowned. “So explain how we are not gay?”  
  
“We prefer women; I mean you really prefer women. You like all kinds of women, even women with—”  
  
“Do not bring up the frog lady,” Eunhyuk interrupted his friend with a big frown on his face.  
  
“I am just saying that maybe you are bisexual. Maybe we all are. Don’t you think it’s possible that the space anomaly that sent us here did something to us?”  
  
“Yeah,” Eunhyuk exclaimed. “That totally makes sense.”  
  
“Except...”  
  
“Except the only guy I am confused about is…”  
  
“Commander Yoochun,” Eunhyuk finished for Junsu.  
  
Junsu grimaced. “Yeah, once I started actually paying attention to therapy…I realized I might still harbor some…confusion when it comes to him.”  
  
“Do you want to have sex with him?” Eunhyuk asked suggestively.  
  
“No, I don’t think so…do you want to have sex with Sungmin?”  
  
“No! It’s just that I don’t want anybody else to have sex with him either,” Eunhyuk admitted.  
  
“Really?”  
  
Eunhyuk covered his face with his hands. “I hate all his lovers.”  
  
“I was really mad when you slept with Commander Yoochun,” Junsu blurted out. “It really made me mad…because I wanted to have sex with him so bad that night.”  
  
“Then why didn’t you? He was an awesome woman, I must say.”  
  
“I just…he was creeping me out.”  
  
“Yeah, he can be creepy.”  
  
Junsu sighed. “Totally.”  
  
“So what are you going to do...?”  
  
“What are  _you_  going to do?”  
  
“Absolutely nothing,” Eunhyuk answered. “Nothing at all.”  
  
“Me neither,” Junsu agreed.  
  
“I am really glad I’m not attracted to you,” Eunhyuk told his friend, relieved.  
  
Junsu let out a whistle. “Amen to that. That would be so weird.”  
  
“Hey, what’s up guys?” Donghae asked as he sat his plate down at the table beside Eunhyuk.  
  
“Nothing,” Junsu quickly replied.  
  
“And it’s staying that way,” Eunhyuk vowed.  
  
****************************  
  
 _“Jaejoong,_ ” Yunho called out telepathically.  
  
 _“Go away.”  
  
“Baby.”_  
  
 _“Don’t baby me…you mentioned the fucking necklace.”_  
  
Yunho walked through their spacious quarters following his instincts to the large bathroom.  _“I was teasing.”  
  
“It wasn’t funny.”_  
  
 _“You were purposely hindering our efforts to study the Guardian,”_  Yunho explained as he opened the door to the bathroom and found Jaejoong sprawled out in the marble oval tub that was lined with gold.  
  
 _“Go away.”_  
  
“I can’t, the vision is too tempting,” Yunho said aloud with much appreciation. Jaejoong was leaning back against the tub, surrounded by bubbles, and looking breathtakingly beautiful.  
  
“I know you think that I am easily controlled by sex—but not tonight.”  
  
Yunho sat down on the side of the tub and gave Jaejoong his best sad puppy dog eyes.  
  
Jaejoong gave Yunho a quick look and then closed his eyes. “Don’t bother looking so pathetic, I am not giving in. I refuse to be controlled by your…your finer endowments.”  
  
Yunho repressed a chuckle, feeling immense love for his mate.  
  
“Stop directing so much love towards me…it is annoying,” Jaejoong commanded, leaning his head back farther and keeping his eyes tightly shut. “I am trying to be angry here.”  
  
“I can’t help it. I really love you.”  
  
Jaejoong opened his eyes and peered up at Yunho. “You are the one that mentioned the necklace, not me.”  
  
“I did; I will take my punishment, like a man.”  
  
Jaejoong started moving his arms back and forth in the water, and asked a question that has been weighing heavily on his mind throughout the day. “Do you want to marry me?”  
  
Yunho’s eyes widened. “Yes; I’d marry you in a second.”  
  
“You would?”  
  
“Definitely.”  
  
Jaejoong smiled, cupped his hand together, scooped up bubbles, and blew the bubbles out over the water. “Why have you never asked me?”  
  
“Honestly, I thought you would think it was beneath you.”  
  
“Oh, because I am a Joong.”  
  
“Yes, and not just any Joong, but the Royal Prince of Joong. I didn’t think you would be interested in a human custom…plus, you never showed any interest when the subject came up.”  
  
“True,” Jaejoong agreed. “A bondmate is a hundred…thousand…a million times more extraordinary than any primitive human ritual that binds two people together.”  
  
“Exactly what I thought you would say. This is why I have never asked you to marry me.”  
  
Jaejoong pondered Yunho’s words. “Still, humans put great value on marriage.”  
  
“They do.”  
  
Jaejoong heaved a sigh. “But if you really…really wanted to marry me, I’d probably agree to it,” Jaejoong proclaimed, darting his eyes toward Yunho and adding, “If you  _really_  wanted to…if you really wanted to. I suppose I could respect your traditions…since we are having a child together.”  
  
Yunho grinned down at his mate with a heart full of the purest of love. “Well, I most certainly want to.”  
  
“You do?” Jaejoong responded, smiling wide.  
  
“I do.”  
  
“Than we shall be married,” Jaejoong announced happily.  
  
Yunho let out a chuckle and told his radiant mate, “I suppose Shindong could marry us.”  
  
“What?” Jaejoong hollered, sitting up in the tub.  
  
“It’s an old Earth tradition that only judges, religious leaders, or captains of ships can marry people.”  
  
“That slimy trader is not marrying us! Plus, he doesn’t have a ship anymore!” Jaejoong declared, appalled.  
  
Yunho leaned down and kissed Jaejoong on the cheek. “Okay, not Shindong then, but I still want this. We will find someone else…someone you approve of.”  
  
“Good…but only someone I approve of,” Jaejoong agreed, leaning away from Yunho. “No kisses for you.”  
  
“The Royal Prince of Joong just can’t have anybody officiating at his wedding,” Yunho teased, backing away.  
  
“Exactly,” Jaejoong agreed, ignoring Yunho’s amusement.  
  
“Until then we will just have to be bonded for life…for many lives.”  
  
“Now, go away before I change my mind. I can’t lose all my self-respect.”  
  
“Okay,” Yunho relented, standing up. “I will go walk the ship.”  
  
Jaejoong slid back down in the tub getting comfortable. “Good, don’t trip or anything.”  
  
Yunho laughed on his way out of the bathroom. “I will do my best not to.”  
  
**************************  
  
“Dude, this is so awesome!” an excited DongWoo declared as he practically skipped down the corridor towards SungGyu’s new quarters. “Man, you are on the same floor as the officers! Same floor as the captain! Why aren’t you two more excited?”  
  
L, who was walking beside SungGyu, sighed uncomfortably for his friend, and explained, “Now people will be even more jealous of him.”  
  
SungGyu, who has been totally taken aback when he had returned from the planet to find out his quarters had been moved, just shrugged. “They can get over it.”  
  
DongWoo hurried back to SungGyu and L, announcing, “We should have a party!”  
  
“No,” SungGyu quickly informed his excited friend.  
  
“Why not? We have to celebrate!” DongWoo insisted.  
  
SungGyu walked up to the door to his new quarters, and then turned around to look at his friends. “I have been on Eternity all day with a very irritated Commander Yoochun trying to figure out the Guardian’s secrets…and we learned absolutely nothing. I’m mentally exhausted, so I’m going to sleep.”  
  
“Listen to Grandpa, DongWoo,” L told the other ensign, smirking. “He is too tired to party.”  
  
SungGyu managed to give the pilot a slight snarl to protest the use of his unflattering nickname. “Go away; both of you, now!”  
  
A dejected DongWoo asked, “Aren’t you going to give us a tour of your new quarters?”  
  
“Not tonight; sleeping is all I plan on doing tonight. I have lost five minutes of sleep just by talking to you two,” SungGyu informed them. “Good Night.”  
  
L took DongWoo by the arm and reminded his friend, “Come on, don’t forget he outranks us now.”  
  
DongWoo smiled. “That’s right! We will see you in the morning.”  
  
“I doubt it.”  
  
“Why?” L asked SungGyu.  
  
Sunggyu exhaled and explained, “I have to be back on Eternity in less than five hours.”  
  
“Oh,” DongWoo said, sympathizing. “Well, we will let you sleep then.”  
  
SungGyu watched as his two friends walked away. He then turned around and entered his new quarters. The doors whooshed open and he walked in and immediately came to a sudden stop. “What are you doing in here?”  
  
WooHyun, who had been sitting on the sofa with a computer tablet studying, looked up at SungGyu, smiling. “I live here now.”  
  
SungGyu frowned. “Huh? I was told these are my new quarters.”  
  
WooHyun set the computer tablet down. “We are sharing.”  
  
“No, we are not…you must have misunderstood.”  
  
“Umm…I am pretty sure I didn’t. Lieutenant Lee told me himself.”  
  
SungGyu shook his head and immediately called for the ship’s computer. “Computer, who is assigned to these quarters?”  
  
“Ensign SungGyu and Doctor Nam.”  
  
WooHyun shrugged. “Told you.”  
  
“Why? Why would they do that? There are hundreds of empty quarters on this ship? Why would they do this to me?”  
  
“Lieutenant Lee said you could help me get oriented to the ship,” WooHyun helpfully explained.  
  
“But…but I don’t want a room mate,” SungGyu protested.  
  
“I’m sorry,” WooHyun weakly told the other man. “I’m really clean, and I don’t make any noises when I sleep. I am like a sleeping rock…or just a plain rock…I am really quiet.”  
  
SungGyu held up his hands. “This can’t be happening; I am sure you are a perfectly lovely roommate, but I don’t want one…and I especially don’t want you.”  
  
WooHyun, who had been ready to say something, shut his mouth quickly; his feelings immediately hurt.  
  
“Don’t take that the wrong way,” SungGyu quickly stated, reading the other man’s facial expression.  
  
“How can…how else can I take that?” WooHyun asked, standing up.  
  
SungGyu waved his hands in front of him and quickly informed the other man, “We kinda had a thing…didn’t we kinda have a thing?”  
  
WooHyun quickly nodded his head. “I was really hoping we had a thing going on.”  
  
“Well, now we can’t have a thing?”  
  
“Wha….why can’t we have a thing?” a confused WooHyun asked. “Wouldn’t being roommates…make a having a thing easier?”  
  
“No,” SungGyu vehemently denied. “We can never have a thing now.”  
  
WooHyun paled and sat back down on the sofa. “We can’t?”  
  
SungGyu continued to wave his arms as he clarified, “I am not a cuddly person. I have sex with a person and then I leave. I am not interested in a relationship. I don’t even want a roommate. I like to sleep in my room. I sleep a lot.”  
  
“Okay,” a puzzled looking WooHyun told the other man.  
  
“Are you positive that Lieutenant Lee told you we were going to be roommates?”  
  
“Yes, he showed me these quarters today.”  
  
“Did he do it because we were on the planet together? If that is the case then maybe he could put you with Ensign Junsu…but no, Ensign Junsu is his friend so he wouldn’t give him a roommate,” SungGyu groaned as he headed toward the bedroom.  
  
WooHyun bit his tongue to keep from telling the upset ensign that Jaejoong influenced the lieutenant’s decision; instead he was determined to show SungGyu that he could be a very good roommate. “I promise I won’t be any hassle, it will be like I am not even here.”  
  
SungGyu, who was eyeing his new bedroom, asked, “But I thought I was supposed to orientate you to the ways of the ship?”  
  
“Don’t worry too much about that, I don’t want to be a burden.”  
  
“Okay, I won’t give it too much thought then, but we are not sleeping together,” SungGyu stated, looking at the bed. “You can have the sofa or the bed. Hurry and make up your mind, because I have to get some sleep.”  
  
“I am fine with the sofa.”  
  
“Are you sure? I can sleep anywhere, and I do mean anywhere.”  
  
“The sofa is fine,” WooHyun insisted.  
  
SungGyu sat down the bed. “Okay, good night.”  
  
“Are you going to bed now?” a surprised WooHyun asked.  
  
“Yep.”  
  
“Shouldn’t we talk?”  
  
“Nope, I have to be up in less than five hours, so I just want to sleep.”  
  
A hurt WooHyun nodded his head, and agreed, “I will just go back to the living room…I am sorry this upsets you so much.”  
  
“This doesn’t upset me…it might annoy me though. I don’t know why Lieutenant Lee has chosen to do this to me…when it has never been done before. It is rather odd.’  
  
WooHyun’s guilt kept him quiet.  
  
“A lot of people on this ship are envious of me…they think I get too much of the captain’s and Commander Yoochun’s attention and praise…I hope he isn’t one of them.’  
  
“I am sure he isn’t,” WooHyun blurted out, but quickly remembered Jaejoong’s words. “Or rather, I doubt he did this to you because he was jealous.”  
  
“I don’t think he would. If we are going to be roommates there are four things you should know about me.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
SungGyu lay down on the bed and explained, “I guess you could say they are my life mottos.”  
  
WooHyun brightened. “I can’t wait to hear them.”  
  
“The first one is: Don’t get killed. The second one is: Always try your best. The third one is: Don’t over think. The fourth one is: Sleep as much as possible. 

WooHyun shook his head, amused.  "I am going to let you get to the fourth one now."

“Thanks,” SungGyu told WooHyun and then he fell instantly to sleep.

                                                     *******************************************************************

 

“Try to think of something brilliant,” a very irritated Commander Yoochun ordered, before tapping his insignia. “Beam me up.”  
  
Ensigns Henry and SungGyu watched as the testy engineer was transported away. For two weeks they had attempted to study the Guardian with no success. After a month in orbit around Eternity the captain had ordered that all aboard the ship would get one day of shore leave starting tomorrow and then the ship would start making the long journey for Trysor.  
  
Ensign Henry looked at the stone monument that rested inside the mountain basin and shook his head. “What does he expect? We have used our most sophisticated equipment and still all the tests show…that it is just a huge stone.”  
  
“A huge stone that defies the laws of gravity and physics by having water pooling vertically inside it,” SungGyu added.  
  
Henry turned around to eye the monks that were watching him. “They still look like they are pissed at me.”  
  
“They are not going to do anything to you…they are monks,” SungGyu assured the other ensign. “Plus, Prince Siwon is smoothing everything over…and Ensign Kangin is here along with the rest of the security team.”  
  
“I feel like I should apologize for distracting them,” Henry said guiltily as he watched the Prince and Kangin try to make nice with the monks.  
  
“You didn’t know Commander Yoochun was going to kick it.”  
  
“I should have known,” Henry replied wistfully. “I should have known.”  
  
SungGyu studied the Guardian. “If you don’t figure out something fast we are going to spend three months stuck in engineering with a very aggravated Commander Yoochun.”  
  
“Why do I have to figure it out?”  
  
“You are the engineering prodigy,” SungGyu pointed out.  
  
“What do you propose I do?”  
  
SungGyu, who was staring at the Guardian, suggested, “Ask it nicely?”  
  
“We have already done that.”  
  
“We did that with Commander Yoochun on the planet, and if it knows everything…it knew he was going to kick it.”  
  
Henry frowned. “So you think the Guardian of Time that is known for only talking to Joongs…didn’t talk to us, because it doesn’t like Commander Yoochun?”  
  
SungGyu shrugged. “He did kick it.”  
  
Henry sighed and then made a point to give an embellished bow to the Guardian and asked in a voice full of reverence, “Magnificent Guardian of Time, portal of endless wonders, would you be so kind to communicate with us mere mortals from the planet Earth?”  
  
“Humans of Earth, it is not meant for you to know the secrets of my origin or the source of my power,” a booming voice that emerged from the Guardian announced.  
  
Both ensigns jumped back, shocked that the ancient portal had responded. The monks, Siwon, and the members of security all turned to gape at the now responsive portal in astonishment.  
  
Ensign SungGyu was the first to find his tongue and asked the question that had plagued him since first hearing about the Guardian of Time. “Guardian of Time, can you take us home?”  
  
Siwon, Henry, and the security team all gasped. The thought of going home lingered in all the crews’ minds even if they had accepted the fact they would most likely never see their homes again.  
  
“Do you seek to return home?” The Guardian of Time asked the ensign.  
  
“Yes,” SungGyu quickly answered. “I believe it is a desire that I share with many of my comrades.”  
  
“I can transport you anywhere and to any point in time, if I choose. I do not choose to return you to Earth,” the Guardian responded. “Be careful what you seek young Earthling. The Earth that exists now is greatly changed from the one you last walked upon.”  
  
“What does that mean? Has Earth been attacked? Did the anomaly transport us in time? Are we in another dimension?” A curious and worried SungGyu asked in rapid fire succession.  
  
“In time your questions shall be answered, but now is not the time.”  
  
Henry found his nerve and asked, “Why are you communicating with us?”  
  
“I can speak with the humans of Earth if and when I choose,” came the Guardian’s sharp response.  
  
“You said you would not transport us to Earth…would you transport elsewhere?”  
  
“Clever Young Human, I will not transport you to your galaxy or bordering galaxies,” the Guardian replied, almost sounding amused.  
  
SungGyu accepted the words of the Guardian, but did not cease with his questions. “We seek a powerful crystal that will power our ship. Can you assist us in collecting it?”  
  
“It’s called dilithium,” Ensign Henry clarified.  
  
“I know what it is you seek, and I will assist you,” the booming voice of the Guardian told them as the blue waters inside the portal began to swirl and it sucked the two ensigns inside it.  
  
******************  
  
“Oh, he is grabbing his little feet,” a spellbound Yunho said as he watched the baby on the sickbay examination screen.  
  
“At least the webbed feet are gone, not to mention the tail,” Jaejoong said, trying his best to appear unmoved.  
  
“It wasn’t a tail,” Yunho mumbled, mesmerized by the sight in front of him as he rubbed Jaejoong’s tummy at the same time.  
  
Ryeowook watched the affectionate couple and explained, “Although Jaejoong is only four weeks along the baby is exactly how a human child of sixteen weeks would appear.”  
  
Yunho turned to beam proudly at Dr. Cho. “He’s a fast grower.”  
  
“For now,” Jaejoong added, looking up at the screen. “Joong babies are known to slow down their development whenever it suits them.”  
  
“He’s only half Joong,” Yunho reminded Jaejoong as he looked lovingly down at his mate.  
  
“Quit being so gooey…I am still mad at you,” Jaejoong told his mate, trying to sound gruff.  _“Remember, Ryeowook is having a hard time; stop being so loving…it’s rude considering what he is going through.”_  
  
 _“I can’t help it,”_ Yunho replied, telepathically to his mate. “Yes, I know and I understand…but we are going to have a baby, and that baby is going to grow up to be the most perfect, smartest boy in the whole universe.”  
  
Jaejoong resisted the urge to smile. “You might be little biased.”  
  
“A little,” Yunho admitted, while continuing to rub Jaejoong’s tummy. “I can tell you are just as happy as I am…don’t fight it. This is exciting. Embrace the joy of it.”  
  
“No.” Jaejoong folded his arms across his chest and bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling. “Stop rubbing my stomach, you are—”  
  
Yunho’s insignia went off interrupting Jaejoong. Yunho immediately reached up to tap it, “Captain, here.”  
  
“Sir,” came the immediate reply of Ensign Kangin. “The Guardian just swallowed Ensigns SungGyu and Henry.”  
  
“Swallowed them…it swallowed them, explain!” an alarmed Yunho ordered.  
  
“It sucked them up inside it, after it talked to them.”  
  
Jaejoong sat up quickly and said full of surprise, “It talked to them…the Guardian addressed them?”  
  
“It did,” Kangin responded. “It talked to both of them.”  
  
“We will be right down,” Yunho informed the ensign.  
  
Dr. Cho watched wordlessly as the captain and Jaejoong hurried from the exam room and headed for the transporter room.  
  
  
******************************  
  
Jaejoong and Yunho materialized inside the mountain basin that was home to the Guardian of Time to find the monks forming a circle around the Guardian while they prayed and the away team staring at the Guardian of Time, severely perplexed.  
  
“Guardian, what did you do to the members of our crew?” Jaejoong demanded as he stormed toward the great portal, ignoring the away team and the monks.  
  
Yunho smiled.  _“Our crew.”_  
  
Jaejoong swung his head around to smile back at his mate.  _“Our crew.”_  
  
“It ate them,” Kangin informed him.  
  
“It did not eat them…The Guardian of Time does not eat people,” Jaejoong explained, looking sternly at the portal that had not responded to him.  
  
“Why isn’t it answering you?” Yunho questioned as he walked up beside his mate.  
  
“I do not know,” Jaejoong responded. “Earlier I had told it not to respond…” Jaejoong paused, looking sheepishly back at his mate.  
  
 _“Like I didn’t know that.”_  
  
Jaejoong gave his mate a weak smile. _“I am not mad at you anymore.”_  
  
 _“My turn to be mad.’  
  
“Yunho.”  
  
“Jaejoong.”_ Yunho shook his head focusing back on the problem at hand. “Great Guardian of Time, if any of us have offended you by being disrespectful, or bossy, I apologize.”  
  
“Are you apologizing for me?” Jaejoong asked, taken aback.  
  
“You and anybody else that might have offended it, including myself,” Yunho replied and then turned to Kangin and Prince Siwon. “What did the ensigns say to the Guardian?”  
  
“Your pet asked if could take us back to Earth,” Kangin quickly told Yunho.  
  
“He did?” Yunho replied, surprised. “What did it say?”  
  
Siwon started to explain, “It said it would not return you to your planet—”  
  
Kangin interrupted Siwon to tell Yunho, “It said Earth was greatly changed…the kid asked if we were in the past or the future, but the thing wouldn’t tell him.”  
  
“It isn’t a thing…it is the Guardian of Time,” Jaejoong hissed as he eyed the portal that was still ignoring him.  
  
Siwon added, “It also said that it would respond to the humans of Earth whenever it liked.”  
  
“Yeah, it likes Earthlings apparently,” Kangin quickly confirmed.  
  
“It likes Earthlings…” Jaejoong began, but then paused to kneel down in front of the portal. “Great Guardian of Time, I apologize if I was disrespectful and beg your forgiveness. I only seek your infinite wisdom and guidance. What is it that binds the humans of Earth, the Joong race, and your magnificence together?”  
  
“Jaejoong of the Royal House of Joong, you ask the question that I have waited eons for and yet it can not be answered so easily. The answer you seek will come to you in time,” came the booming reply of the Guardian.  
  
“Can you not tell us more?” Jaejoong pleaded, still kneeling.  
  
“I will not,” the Guardian answered.  
  
“But what of our people?” Yunho quickly asked as he knelt down beside Jaejoong. “What has become of them?”  
  
“The time for them to appear approaches,” the Guardian told Yunho as the waters inside it began to swirl and SungGyu and Henry shot out of the portal. The two ensigns hit the ground hard and rolled.  
  
Yunho and Jaejoong quickly stood up as Kangin and the security team pulled the two ensigns to their unsteady feet. They were both unshaven, filthy, and they both were tightly clutching cloth bags.  
  
“Captain,” Ensign Henry exclaimed happily upon seeing the captain.  
  
“What happened?” Yunho asked the two disheveled ensigns.  
  
SungGyu and Henry laughed in relief as they both pulled out crystals from the bags they were carrying. “I think the Guardian sent us shopping,” Ensign SungGyu answered.  
  
Yunho pulled Jaejoong back and quickly stepped in front of him. “That’s pure dilithium!”  
  
“Yeah,” Henry nodded his head and confirmed. “It’s a very high grade, too. We have kinda been exposed to a lot of radiation in the mines…but I honestly don’t feel that bad.”  
  
“Me either,” SungGyu agreed, running his hand through his hair. “Although, Ensign Henry says my hair is turning red.”  
  
Yunho tapped his insignia. “Beam Ensigns SungGyu and Henry immediately to a decontamination chamber. Inform Dr. Cho they have been exposed to raw dilithium. Also notify Commander Yoochun of the arrival of the dilithium.”  
  
They all watched as the ensigns were transported away to the ship.  
  
Yunho turned to Siwon. “The monks will have to be tested for exposure to radiation, along with all of us, even though I doubt they have been exposed.”  
  
“Yes, Sir,” Siwon responded.  
  
“We are fine,” Jaejoong mumbled, still studying the Guardian. “It transported them to where they needed to be…just like it would a Joong.”  
  
Yunho frowned. “We already suspected there was something special about being from Earth.”  
  
“But to have it confirmed,” Jaejoong replied, still stunned by what he had learned.  
  
Yunho reached out and took Jaejoong’s hand. “We need to get back to the ship.”  
  
“I just don’t know what to think,” Jaejoong confessed.  
  
 _“Feeling less special?”  
  
“No!”_  
  
Yunho smiled and tapped his insignia. “Beam us up.”  
  
“Aye Aye, Sir,” Lieutenant Donghae replied.  
  
  
***********************  
  
“So you have made up your mind?” Dr. Cho asked as he walked into their quarters to find his husband packing up his belongings.  
  
“I am still…I haven’t decided anything yet,” Kyuhyun admitted as he gazed down at a book he was holding.  
  
“You are moving out though?”  
  
Kyuhyun shrugged. “I thought you might be sick of sleeping in sickbay.”  
  
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Ryeowook admitted. “At least I am wanted in sickbay.”  
  
Kyuhyun looked up from the book to gaze upon his husband. “This isn’t about not wanting you.”  
  
“Really,” Ryeowook said, incredulously. “What is it about then?”  
  
“It’s about lust…undeniable, uncontrollable lust.”  
  
“No, it’s about you being mentally ill, and refusing the get the help you need,” Ryeowook corrected.  
  
Kyuhyun placed the book in the box with his other belongs. “No, that is your opinion…based on your beliefs. I changed once for you, and I wish you would change for me this time…or just try to understand.”  
  
Ryeowook shook his head sadly as Kyuhyun rewrote their history. “We both changed for each other.”  
  
“I am not going to change this time, I can’t stop thinking about…I need to do this.”  
  
“When you say ‘this’ do you mean cheat on me?”  
  
Kyuhyun closed his eyes. “I mean having sex with someone other than you.”  
  
“Can I at least know their name? I would hate to accidentally save their life one day.”  
  
“You don’t mean that.”  
  
“I mean it right now,” Ryeowook told Kyuhyun, unable to hide the hurt in his voice. “I need to know who…other than you thinks so little of me.”  
  
Kyuhyun winced. “I don’t think little of you…I think the world of you.”  
  
“Don’t tell me lies; just tell me who it is.”  
  
Kyuhyun squeezed his eyes shut. “He is from Eternity. He’s a council member. The ship will leave tomorrow and I’ll never see him again. Today’s my last chance…to be with him.”  
  
“No, you are wrong. Today is your last chance with me,” Ryeowook said, walking over to the box and removing the book from it. “This book is the one I used to read to you, when your demons came to haunt you at night.”  
  
“That’s why I want it.”  
  
“It belongs to me,” Ryeowook told his husband, looking up at him unflinchingly. “It was the start of our love, and you can’t have it.”  
  
Kyuhyun’s eyes welled with tears. “I don’t want our love to end.”  
  
Ryeowook let out a bitter laugh. “And yet you are the one ending it. You thought it was bad when I first returned to the ship…you haven’t seen anything, yet.”  
  
“Ryeowook,” Kyuhyun pleaded, reaching out for Ryeowook, but the doctor evaded his grasp.  
  
“I am going to remove you from my life as if you were a cancerous growth. I will not spend time with you and I will not speak with you. And I will never calm you when your nightmares come back to haunt you, and believe me they will,” a shaking Ryeowook informed his husband.  
  
“Don’t.”  
  
“Someday, you will regret this choice you made. You will probably seek me out, promise to get the help you need, and plead for my forgiveness…but I won’t forgive you. I will never forgive you for hurting me like this…because I will never trust you with my heart again.”  
  
“Don’t say that.”  
  
“It’s the truth,” Ryeowook told Kyuhyun as he headed toward the door.  
  
Kyuhyun reached out and grabbed Ryeowook, stopping him. “Don’t say such things…why must you make it so hard? So impossible? This has nothing to do with us…I wish I could make you understand. I will always love you.”  
  
Ryeowook yanked his arm away from Kyuhyun. “That’s a lie! If you loved me you wouldn’t do this to me, so don’t claim to love me when you are one that destroyed our love.”  
  
“No, I didn’t destroy anything. Nothing is destroyed!”  
  
“It’s already over, our love has already ended,” Ryeowook explained bitterly as he walked away. “I’ll never forgive you.”  
  
  
********************  
  
Yunho sat down on the bed. “You seem to be in deep thought?”  
  
“I am,” Jaejoong, who was sprawled out on their bed, answered.  
  
Yunho reached out and felt the fabric of the silk blue pajamas Jaejoong was wearing. “You haven’t worn these in a while.”  
  
“I plan on staying fully clothed tonight,” Jaejoong told Yunho as the other man crawled over to him in bed, resting his head against Jaejoong’s belly.  
  
“I thought you weren’t mad anymore.”  
  
“I am not really mad, but I feel...”  
  
“Feel what?”  
  
“Don’t you feel like our relationship is stronger?”  
  
“I do.”  
  
“It used to be all about sex…and now it’s deeper.”  
  
“Ours is a timeless love,” Yunho teased. “I do enjoy the sex though.”  
  
“As do I, but sometimes—”  
  
“Sometimes it’s nice just to be together,” Yunho finished.  
  
“Yes,” Jaejoong agreed, reaching out to run his hands through Yunho’s hair.  
  
“We should enjoy these times while we can…before Changmin is born.”  
  
“Or before he starts becoming aware of us.”  
  
Yunho frowned. “Would he be aware of us…having sex?”  
  
Jaejoong’s eyes twinkled in mischief. “He’ll know we are doing something.”  
  
Yunho, whose head was still resting against Jaejoong’s stomach, asked, “When does that happen?  
  
“It just depends…I just feel his presence now; he’s not sending out any thoughts yet.”  
  
“You can sense him already?” Yunho practically shouted as he sat up.  
  
Jaejoong smiled up at Yunho, unable to hide his joy. “Yes, that’s what I was in deep thought about. I feel him now…it’s pretty wonderful.”  
  
Yunho grinned widely as he swept Jaejoong up in his arms. “I thought you were in deep thought about the Guardian!”  
  
Jaejoong wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck and looked him in the eye. “No, what we discovered today is amazing…but not nearly as amazing as feeling Changmin…like feeling him. Our bond…it’s not broken…it’s just forming.”  
  
Tears welled up in Yunho’s eyes. “I am so happy for you…it must be—”  
  
“Overwhelming,” Jaejoong admitted, his own eyes getting misty. “I kinda feel bad…for feeling so happy.”  
  
“Why would you feel bad?”  
  
“Ryeowook and Kyuhyun…they have fallen completely apart,” Jaejoong explained. “Kyuhyun is going to beam down to that blasted planet and…and…there is nothing I can do…nothing I should do. I feel bad for them, but I can’t help but feel happy. This bond I share with Changmin…this bond will only grow stronger.”  
  
Yunho pulled Jaejoong in for a tight hug. “Like our love grows stronger with each passing day. Don’t feel bad, don’t you dare. I will take care of everything.”  
  
  
*******************  
  
“So how many days were you there?” WooHyun asked as he and SungGyu walked back to their quarters.  
  
SungGyu, who had been released from the decontamination chamber earlier, answered, “Eight days total, but it was only a few minutes to everybody in our timeline.”  
  
“Amazing.”  
  
“The Guardian is a truly remarkable piece of technology.”  
  
“It is. Do you have any idea where you were?”  
  
“None, we could have been anywhere and at anytime. The people at the mines thought their planet was the only one with life in the universe…you know, like most primitive humans tend to think.”  
  
“Yeah,” Woohyun concurred. “We humans like to feel that we are special.”  
  
“So true.”  
  
“I like you hair though,” WooHyun told the ensign, giving him a quick appreciative glance.  
  
SungGyu reached up and ran his hand through his now bright red hair. “I kinda like it, too. Dr. Cho was going to change it back, but I thought I would keep it.”  
  
“It looks nice.”  
  
“It was a rough eight days, so I will think of it as my battle scar.”  
  
They reached their door and WooHyun told the other man, “I am really glad you made it back.”  
  
“Me too,” SungGyu responded as he entered their quarters. “I won’t lie, we were a little nervous at times…but I felt that if we accomplished our goal and collected enough dilithium, the Guardian would return us.”  
  
WooHyun watched as SungGyu plopped down the sofa. “You were right.”  
  
“I usually am.”  
  
“I think I have heard that before,” WooHyun said with a soft snort.  
  
SungGyu closed his eyes, and apologized, “I am sorry for being such a shitty roommate. I know I am supposed to be orienting you to the ship.”  
  
“I told you not to worry about it. I understand that you have been busy, and I have been busy trying to fill my head with new knowledge…there is so much for me to learn,” WooHyun said, waving off the apology.  
  
SungGyu smiled, his small eyes still shut. “I am going to go to sleep now.”  
  
“You should go to bed.”  
  
“No, it’s your turn to have the bed. I am fine here.”  
  
Woohyun walked closer to the sofa. “No, really, you should take the bed. You have had a rough eight days.”  
  
“I can sleep anywhere…it’s a talent of mine. I am staying here, you get the bed tonight,” SungGyu insisted, never opening his eyes.  
  
“Have it your way then,” WooHyun said, relenting as he bent down and started removing SungGyu’s shoes.  
  
SungGyu’s eyes fluttered open. “You don’t have to do that.”  
  
“I want to do it. You should sleep…don’t forget your life mottos. I think it was number four.”  
  
SungGyu studied the doctor. “Why…why do you like me so much?”  
  
WooHyun, who had his eyes focused on the other man’s shoes, pulled them off and set them down beside the sofa. “I just do…I just did…I met you and I liked you.”  
  
“I like you, too,” SungGyu confessed to the other man.  
  
WooHyun looked down at the lounging ensign and asked, “Why?”  
  
“I just do…I just did…I met you and I liked you,” SungGyu responded, purposely repeating the other man’s words back to him.  
  
WooHyun laughed. “Fair enough.”  
  
“Good Night,” SungGyu told WooHyun as he let out a big yawn.  
  
“Good Night, SungGyu,” WooHyun whispered softly as he walked towards the bedroom, feeling the warmth of what he was positive was the glow of new love.  
  
  
*****************  
  
Commander Cho made his way down the corridors of the ship toward the transporter room. He had come to a decision, one he was not confident in, but one he could not stop himself from making. A decision that would forever change his world, and inflict unimaginable hurt on the one he loved the most.  
  
He slowed as he reached the transporter room, inhaled a deep breath, and attempted to push the image of a hurt Ryeowook from his mind. He couldn’t think of Ryeowook. Old demons called to him and the desire to feel someone stronger than him underneath him, begging him for more…beckoned to him.  
  
Kyuhyun knew if he entered the transporter room and beamed own to Eternity that Ryeowook would divorce him…but would the other man really stop loving him, he asked himself. He didn’t want to believe that their love would be over…he couldn’t believe it, he didn’t believe it. Maybe he would never be the man he once was, and maybe he’d never know the gentle touch of his dear husband again, but he highly doubted it. Ryeowook wasn’t that type of person, no matter how much he hurt him…Ryeowook loved him.  
  
A pain swelled inside of Kyuhyun as guilt flooded him for abusing Ryeowook’s love. Ryeowook’s love that had once been so pure, absolute and healing…Ryeowook’s love that had once been all he ever needed. He secretly wondered if he shouldn’t hope that by committing this betrayal that Ryeowook would be free of him…if he truly loved Ryeowook shouldn’t he wish him to be free of such a man as himself? These thoughts were heavy on Kyuhyun’s mind as he entered the transporter room.  
  
Lieutenant Donghae was standing at the controls calibrating the transporter systems when Kyuhyun entered the room. “Hello, Commander Cho,” the lieutenant said, greeting him with a warm smile.  
  
“Lieutenant,” Commander Cho said with a nod as he stepped upon the transporter platform full of doubts. “I need you send me down to these coordinates—”  
  
“Sir, I can’t send you anywhere,” the Lieutenant interrupted to tell him.  
  
“And why exactly can’t you?” Commander Cho demanded sharply.  
  
A perplexed looking Donghae explained, “We left orbit fifteen minutes ago.”  
  
“Left orbit,” a stunned Commander Cho managed to get out.  
  
“Yes, Sir,” Lieutenant Donghae clarified. “The captain cancelled shore leave, and put us on our way. Did you not hear the announcement?”  
  
Commander Cho blinked, confused; had he been so lost in his own world of misery and turmoil that he had missed the captain’s announcement? “I guess…I missed it.”  
  
Lieutenant Donghae smiled at him and proudly informed him, “The captain said our new journeys are just beginning. We are going to find a way home, and we are going to carry on the legacy of our forefathers by exploring the galaxy as we search for a way home. Isn’t that great?”  
  
“Yes,” Kyuhyun replied, feeling strangely relieved. “That’s just wonderful…we are very lucky.”  
  
“Lucky?”  
  
“To have such a captain…a man that looks out for us. I know that someday we will find our way home with his guidance.”  
  
“That we will, Sir.”


End file.
